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Ernst & Young Monthly News July 2010

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IFRS outlook – June 2010

(PDF, English, 352 kB)

Keeping up to date on the status of IASB projects — IFRS monthly update — Resources

IASB requests feedback on FASB's proposals to increase use of fair value accounting for financial instruments – May 2010 (Issue 73, Supplement to IFRS outlook)

(PDF, English, 655 kB)

The US Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) released on 26 May 2010 new proposals on accounting for financial instruments. If adopted as proposed, this would be a significant change from current US GAAP because many more financial instruments, including loans, will be measured at fair value.

Proposed changes to the presentation of other comprehensive income – May 2010 (Issue 74, Supplement to IFRS outlook)

(PDF, English, 154 kB)

The IASB has issued for comment an Exposure Draft (ED/2010/5) Presentation of Items of Other Comprehensive Income (amendments to IAS 1 Presentation of Financial Statements), proposing limited changes to the presentation of other comprehensive income (OCI).

Legal News – June 2010

(HTML, English)

Bonus payments in employment

Tax News – July 2010

(PDF, English, 225 kB)

The need for a tax strategy (Matthias Bammatter, Scott Melton) / The Swiss Federal Tax Administration’s new practice with regard to grandparent contributions (Daniel Gentsch, Matthias Scheitlin) / Notes on the new VAT rates applicable from January 1, 2011 (Silke Hildebrandt-Stürmer, Roger Rohner) / Taxation of rental value to be abolished? (Walo Staehlin, Clifton des Ligneris) / The latest tax and social security developments in the area of employee participation schemes (Claude Angst) / Changes to Switzerland’s treaty network with Asian and Latin American countries (Dr. Kersten A. Honold, Katja Krech) / NEW IRS Form Will Require Swiss Multinationals with US Subsidiaries or US Operations to Disclose “Uncertain Tax Positions” to the IRS (Aaron Schaal) / Germany: changes in real estate transfer tax for corporate restructuring (Daniel Käshammer)

Release by "dual track", "IPO", or sale?

(PDF, French, 509 kB)
Source: Le Temps, 2 June 2010
Authors: Jerome Groetenbriel, Jérôme Vial, Ernst & Young

Between turbulent markets and a need to sell off shares, the temptation for private equity firms to consider both initial public offerings (IPO) and secondary sales (dual track) in parallel could be great.

Everything you need to know about the recent lifting of the GIPS

(PDF, French, 278 kB)
Source: L'Agéfi, 2 June 2010
Author: Susanne Klemm, Ernst & Young

The ethical principles of Global Investment Performance Standards (GIPS), its self-regulation rules, were published for the first time in 1999. Their objective consists of completely and transparently presenting the history of investment performance by investment companies. In February 2010, the CFA Institute published the GIPS 2010 edition, the most complete version to date. We present the main changes.

Developments in international tax law

(PDF, German, 989 kB)
Source: SteuerRevue, No. 6/2010
Authors: Markus F. Huber, André Leutwyler, Daniel Käshammer, Ulrike Wolff, Ernst & Young

On March 13, 2009, the Federal Council decided to adapt administrative assistance provided for taxation issues to international policy, or more precisely the OECD standard according to Art. 26 of the OECD Model Tax Convention. The Federal Council is generally prepared to provide administrative assistance according to the OECD standard, but rejected automatic information exchange.

Accounting and fiscal processing of conversion spreads – Commentary of the ruling by the Federal Court on October 1, 2009

(PDF, French, 306 kB)
Source: Swiss certified accountant, 2010/6-7
Authors: Marie-Hélène Revaz, Cédric Bignens, Ernst & Young

This article addresses the fiscal processing of conversion spreads. It particularly addresses the question of whether conversion spreads may influence the taxable profits of a corporate entity.

At the age of 50, the owner of a family company must start looking for a successor

(PDF, French, 751 kB)
Source: L'Hebdo, 17 June 2010
Interview with Pierre-Alain Cardinaux, Ernst & Young

Controlled transition. A successful passing of the torch at the head of a family company requires a long preparation by both the company and the family.

Transparency in taxation is an imperative for the future

(PDF, German, 320 kB)
Source: Neue Zürcher Zeitung, 16 June 2010
Authors: Alberto Lissi, Iqbal Khan, Ernst & Young

In the international investment business, business models need to be adapted – for cross-border investments the call for transparency in taxation is becoming louder. To avoid legal risks and damage to their reputation, banks need to adapt their business models to different circumstances.

The GIPS are getting a facelift

(PDF, German, 262 kB)
Source: Finanz und Wirtschaft, 16 June 2010
Authors: Susanne Klemm, Eugene Skrynnyk, Ernst & Young

The CFA Institute is revising investment performance standards – an opportunity for alternative managers

A road map for coping with a crisis situation without problems

(PDF, French, 71 kB)
Source: HR Today, No. 3 2010
Interview with Michael Faske, Ernst & Young

When they discover internal fraud, Swiss companies are often at a loss as to what to do. This lack of preparation in crisis management may have disastrous consequences for the image of the company and for the investigation which will follow discovery of the crime. Here is a road map to succeeding in the management of a delicate situation.