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Want to know more? Contact Cynthia Fabianski at cynthia.fabianski@calcpa.org or (650) 802-2431.

Tightened Ethics Requirements

The AICPA has adopted a new standard that tightens ethics requirements for its members. Failure to comply with a regulator's requirements on the use of indemnification and limitation of liability provisions will be considered an act discreditable to the profession.

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Regulators like the SEC, state insurance commissions and federal banking agencies presently prohibit organizations under their jurisdiction from entering into certain types of indemnification and limitation of liability provisions in agreements for the performance of audit or other attest services. A new interpretation by the AICPA's Professional Ethics Executive Committee (PEEC) prohibits members from using such provisions when contracting for audit and other attest services when their employer or client is subject to the requirements of one of these regulators.

The PEEC's standard, effective July 31, 2008, may be found at www.aicpa.org/download/ethics/editedadopted_501_8_final.pdf.

Accounting for Financial Guarantee Insurance Contracts

The FASB has issued Statement No. 163, Accounting for Financial Guarantee Insurance Contracts. The new standard clarifies how FASB Statement No. 60, Accounting and Reporting by Insurance Enterprises, applies to financial guarantee insurance contracts issued by insurance enterprises, including the recognition and measurement of premium revenue and claim liabilities. It also requires expanded disclosures about financial guarantee insurance contracts.

The statement is effective for financial statements issued for fiscal years beginning after Dec. 15, 2008. and all interim periods within those fiscal years, except for disclosures about the insurance enterprise's risk-management activities. Disclosures about the insurance enterprise's risk-management activities are effective the first period beginning after issuance of the statement.

Learn more at http://fasb.org/news/nr052308.shtml.

New Study Follows 10 Years of Trends in Benefits

The Families and Work Institute issued a report showing changes in the workplace during the past 10 years regarding employee benefits. The report notes that, in the face of economic volatility, employers have generally held steady or...