The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) on Dec. 5 issued FASB Statements No. 141 (revised 2007), Business Combinations, and No. 160, Noncontrolling Interests in Consolidated Financial Statements. Effective for fiscal years beginning after Dec. 15, 2008, the standards will improve, simplify, and converge internationally the accounting for business combinations and the reporting of noncontrolling interests in consolidated financial statements.
Statement 141(R) improves reporting by creating greater consistency in the accounting and financial reporting of business combinations, resulting in more complete, comparable, and relevant information for investors and other users of financial statements. Statement 160 improves the relevance, comparability, and transparency of financial information provided to investors by requiring all entities to report noncontrolling (minority) interests in subsidiaries in the same way--as equity in the consolidated financial statements. Moreover, Statement 160 eliminates the diversity that currently exists in accounting for transactions between an entity and noncontrolling interests by requiring they be treated as equity transactions. Read the press release.
