Aasb 138 Intangible Assets

Regulatory bodies are set up because there are laws and they ensure legislation is implemented. Some of the most prominent regulatory bodies would be OFSTED, Office for Fair Trading, Food Standards Agency, Advertising Standards, Financial Conduct Authority, Civil Aviation Authority, and General Medical Council.

However, assets can be categorized into fixed assets and intangible assets. Fixed assets are tangible assets acquired by the business used in operations like property, plant and equipment. Intangible assets are assets of value without physical substance that are used in business such as licenses, patents, trademarks, copyrights and ect. The intangible asset is defined as ‘an identifiable non-monetary asset without physical substance’. (Deegan 2010) An asset meets the identifiability criterion when it is separable i.e. is capable of being divided from the entity and sold, transferred, licensed, rented or exchanged, either individually or together with a related contract,

integrity. The security industry is subject to regulation under the private security industry act 2001.

Financial regulation is highly significant to a nation in order to maintain the integrity of a financial system by creating guidelines for banks, brokers and investment companies. The financial regulatory authorities within Australia include: The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA), Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA), the Australian Treasury and the Council of Financial Regulators (CFR). These institutions play an important role in Australia’s economy, responsible for consumer protection and the regulation of investment banks and finance companies.

What generally happens is assets are not recognized unless the reporting enterprise acquires them by paying cash or agreeing to pay cash in the future. Then it is said the asset has a cost. That is the asset is the cost, or the cost is the asset. Here lies the problem; FASB noted that, while assets commonly have a cost, they need not have on in order to meet the definition of an

The regulations the commonwealth enacts to control the conduct of our banks are policed by ASIC and APRA. The ASIC (Australian Securities and Investments Commission) Act 2001 (Cth) contains within division 2, the unconscionable conduct as well as consumer protection provisions in relation to financial services providers that are no longer in the Trade Practices Act. APRA is a body established in 1998 by commonwealth legislation.The role of the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) is to oversee the banks, and act as a regulator within the finance industry. (Wentworth, 2007)

The FASB Accounting Standards Codification does not discuss the criteria for defining an asset or an expense. However, the FASB’S Conceptual Framework, Concept Statement (CON) 6 Par. 25, provides the following guidance in this issue:

Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC), an independent Commonwealth Government body, established under Australian Securities and Investments Commission Act 2001 (ASIC Act ) which sets out their powers and function. Their main purpose is to regulate financial services, corporate and markets with a majority of their work being under the Corporations Act 2001 (Corporations Act) and the National Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009 (National Credit Act). They have powers to protect consumers against deceptive or misleading and unconscionable conduct affecting all financial products and services including credit (ASIC 2015). Furthermore, they are empowered to investigate suspected breaches of the law, issue infringement notices and prohibit people from engaging in providing financial services or credit activities. Subsequently ASIC can seek civil penalties from the courts and commence prosecutions.

According to Carroll, regulation is define as the act of governing, directing according to rule, or bringing under the control of law or constituted authority (2013, p. 339). The purpose of regulations is to control monopolies, negative externalities, achieve social goals, excess profits and excessive competition (339, 341). To name of few regulations imposed by the government, but not limited are: Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). Although management may perceive some regulations unreasonable, most address some of the legal issues companies are faced with and therefore minimize the lawsuits against the

There are various external forces that have the potential of impacting the services offered by the financial institution. Amongst these external forces, government regulation is among the most potent. In the event of new government regulation, Westpac is compelled to adhere to the new directives. Failure of which, the integrity and overall legibility of the firm will be compromised. Concerns raised by any of the regulatory bodies have to be treated with the high regard that they command. In the recent times, the firm has been compelled to implement drastic measures in accordance to directives from ASIC (Australian Securities and Investment Commission). Westpac had to remove one of its advertisements, which the ASIC had found inappropriate.

Regulation is design to control and govern conduct by authority that has the power to oversee how financial statement have been prepared and enforce compliance with regulatory requirements (Deegan 2009, p.59). In recent years, there have been changes in the New Zealand regulatory requirements for external financial reporting. External financial reporting in New Zealand is regulated by the legislation, Accounting standards and the Financial Markets Authority. The changes to New Zealand regulation is to the Financial Reporting Act 2013 which will replace the Financial Reporting Act 1993 and would come into effect on 1 April 2014. The Financial Reporting Act applies to all reporting entities (Deegan & Samkin, 2013). This new act will see that

Intangible assets are operational assets that lack physical substance. However, the future economic benefits that are derived from intangible assets are usually less certain than tangible operational assets. Due to this uncertainty, the valuation of these assets rely upon multiple estimations, therefore the reliability of the information may not be as accurate. Additionally, the relevance of the data in the decision making process comes into question since the future benefits are unknown. Copyrights, franchises, goodwill, patents, and trademarks are just a few examples of intangible assets.

IAS 38 is an accounting standard regarding intangible assets. It supplies accounting rules for intangible assets that are purchased, acquired in a business combination, and internally generated. According to Investopedia, intangible assets are nonmonetary assets without a physical presence, that have useful lives greater than one year. This type of asset is held for use in the production of goods or services, for rental to others, or administrative purposes. Examples of intangible assets include trademarks, customer lists, licensing agreements, service contracts, etc. Brand name

There are many aspects to be considered in regards to accounting regulations such as economic, social, and political factors. These factors prohibit the issue regarding regulations form being clear cut or easy to decipher. The economic, social, and professional perspectives in which the issue can be viewed from often have significantly different vantage points and often represent competing interests. However, without regulation it is difficult to maintain a healthy economy and provide individuals a fair chance at achieving their own financial objectives. Therefore, while not all regulations effectively serve their stated purposes, the goal for regulators and legislators should be to improve the effectiveness of regulations and not to try to do away with them completely. In the last decade there have been many examples of how deregulation has worked to destabilize the global economy.

Recently, importance of intangible assets for a reporting entity has been increasing continuously. This report will discuss intangible assets with indefinite or infinite useful life and research and development expenditure in SEEK Ltd annual report 2014. This report will state the background of SEEK Ltd and the increasing importance of intangible assets. Furthermore, the disclosure of intangible assets and research and development expenditure will be revealed. Moreover, this report will critically evaluate whether the disclosures SEEK has made are in accordance with requirements of intangible assets’ segment in AASB 138. Consequently, this report will summary the findings and states the basic recommendation.