面对会计行业如此多的证书，是先考ACCA还是CPA？

4 At an academic conference, a debate took place on the implementation of corporate governance practices in

developing countries. Professor James West from North America argued that one of the key needs for developing

countries was to implement rigorous systems of corporate governance to underpin investor confidence in businesses

in those countries. If they did not, he warned, there would be no lasting economic growth as potential foreign inward

investors would be discouraged from investing.

In reply, Professor Amy Leroi, herself from a developing country, reported that many developing countries are

discussing these issues at governmental level. One issue, she said, was about whether to adopt a rules-based or a

principles-based approach. She pointed to evidence highlighting a reduced number of small and medium sized initial

public offerings in New York compared to significant growth in London. She suggested that this change could be

attributed to the costs of complying with Sarbanes-Oxley in the United States and that over-regulation would be the

last thing that a developing country would need. She concluded that a principles-based approach, such as in the

United Kingdom, was preferable for developing countries.

Professor Leroi drew attention to an important section of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act to illustrate her point. The key

requirement of that section was to externally report on – and have attested (verified) – internal controls. This was, she

argued, far too ambitious for small and medium companies that tended to dominate the economies of developing

countries.

Professor West countered by saying that whilst Sarbanes-Oxley may have had some problems, it remained the case

that it regulated corporate governance in the ‘largest and most successful economy in the world’. He said that rules

will sometimes be hard to follow but that is no reason to abandon them in favour of what he referred to as ‘softer’

approaches.

(a) There are arguments for both rules and principles-based approaches to corporate governance.

Required:

(i) Describe the essential features of a rules-based approach to corporate governance; (3 marks)

3 (a) Leigh, a public limited company, purchased the whole of the share capital of Hash, a limited company, on 1 June

2006. The whole of the share capital of Hash was formerly owned by the five directors of Hash and under the

terms of the purchase agreement, the five directors were to receive a total of three million ordinary shares of $1

of Leigh on 1 June 2006 (market value $6 million) and a further 5,000 shares per director on 31 May 2007,

if they were still employed by Leigh on that date. All of the directors were still employed by Leigh at 31 May

2007.

Leigh granted and issued fully paid shares to its own employees on 31 May 2007. Normally share options issued

to employees would vest over a three year period, but these shares were given as a bonus because of the

company’s exceptional performance over the period. The shares in Leigh had a market value of $3 million

(one million ordinary shares of $1 at $3 per share) on 31 May 2007 and an average fair value of

$2·5 million (one million ordinary shares of $1 at $2·50 per share) for the year ended 31 May 2007. It is

expected that Leigh’s share price will rise to $6 per share over the next three years. (10 marks)

Required:

Discuss with suitable computations how the above share based transactions should be accounted for in the

financial statements of Leigh for the year ended 31 May 2007.

Under certain circumstances, profits made on transactions between members of a group need to be eliminated from the consolidated financial statements under IFRS.

Which of the following statements about intra-group profits in consolidated financial statements is/are correct?

(i) The profit made by a parent on the sale of goods to a subsidiary is only realised when the subsidiary sells the goods to a third party

(ii) Eliminating intra-group unrealised profits never affects non-controlling interests

(iii) The profit element of goods supplied by the parent to an associate and held in year-end inventory must be eliminated in full

A.(i) only

B.(i) and (ii)

C.(ii) and (iii)

D.(iii) only