At its meeting in Beijing in July, the IASC Board--

* approved revised International Accounting Standards IAS 1, Presentation of Financial Statements, and IAS 14, Segment Reporting, both effective for financial years beginning on or after July 1, 1998;

* approved exposure drafts: Interim Financial Reporting (E57); Discontinuing Operations (E58); Provisions, Contingent Liabilities, and Contingent Assets (E59); Intangible Assets (E60); and Business Combinations (E61);

* approved operating procedures for the new Standing Interpretations Committee (SIC), which provide, among other things that SIC has 12 voting members, it normally meets at least four times a year, and a consensus is achieved when not more than three members have voted against a proposed interpretation;

* discussed issues arising from comment letters on E54, Employee Benefits;

* discussed two additional projects: financial instruments and reporting financial performance; and

* welcomed the Chinese Institute of Certified Public Accountants to membership in the IASC and as a formal observer with right of the floor at IASC Board meetings.

As a result of its progress in July, IASC has now published either final standards or exposure drafts on all but one of the core projects that form part of its commitment to the International Organization of Securities Commissions to complete by early 1998. The remaining project--Financial Instruments: Recognition and Measurement--is scheduled for discussion and board decisions at IASC's October-November 1997 meeting.

Also in July, the SIC held its second meeting and approved for public comment proposed interpretations on the following
matters:

* That IAS 2 does allow different inventory cost methods (LIFO, weighted average, FIFO, etc.) to be used for different categories of an enterprise's inventory;

* That if a company capitalizes borrowing costs as permitted under IAS 23, capitalization must be applied to all qualifying assets, not to some assets but not others;

* That intercompany gains and losses arising from transactions with associates should be eliminated proportionately under IAS 28.O