The look ahead: European economic sentiment and convergence in Brazil and Malaysia
In the week ahead, the EU will release survey results showing economic sentiment and the European Central Bank will release data on growth of the money supply. Accounting standards convergence talks will be held in Brazil and Malaysia.
Economic sentiment in the EU
The EU on March 29th will release survey results that offer key economic sentiment data for the 27 EU countries.
The index is a broad measure of business and consumer sentiment of EU members. In February, economic sentiment on average across the region saw a modest but larger-than-expected improvement. The rise in overall sentiment was mainly attributable to industry. The consumer sector showed little improvement.
The index was above its long-run average in Germany and improved in France and Italy. Spain remained in the doldrums, registering a slight decline.
Economic recovery in Europe
The European Central Bank on Wednesday will release the three-month average of the annual growth rate for M3 money supply. M3 is the ECB’s broadest measure of money supply and an indicator for inflation and the possibility of interest rate increases.
Convergence talks in Brazil and Malaysia
Staff members from the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) and the US Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) will hold meetings next week in Brazil and Malaysia to discuss separate projects in the convergence agenda that the boards are pursuing jointly.
- Revenue recognition will be the topic of outreach meetings on Tuesday and Wednesday in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Staff from the IASB and FASB will discuss the 2011 ED, “Revenue From Contracts With Customers”, on Tuesday from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. local time. Following the discussion forum, separate meetings will be held each day to discuss industry-specific application of the revenue proposals, and to discuss the proposals with audit professionals.
- Meetings on the proposals for investment entities and revenue recognition are scheduled for Tuesday in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
The investment entity round-table meeting will be an opportunity to discuss with IASB and FASB staff an exception to the control principle in IFRS 10, “Consolidated Financial Statements”, that would prohibit an investment entity from consolidating its investments in controlled entities. Rather, these investments would be measured at fair value through profit or loss in accordance with IFRS 9, “Financial Instruments”. The meeting runs from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Kuala Lumpur time on Tuesday.
The ED, “Investment Entities”, describes the proposal. More information, including how to register, is available on the IFRS Foundation’s website. This is the last of four round-table events scheduled on investment entities.
At a revenue recognition outreach meeting March 30th from 4:30 to 6 p.m. Malaysia time, the IASB staff will provide a brief update on the revenue project. The majority of the meeting will be set aside for participants to ask questions and provide their views.
For more information, visit the IFRS Foundation’s website.