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The SEC adopted rules in November to improve public companies’ disclosure of the processes they follow in appointing directors and the means by which securities holders can communicate with them (www.sec.gov/rules/final/33-8340.htm). Among the rules’ provisions—which took effect January 1—are, for example, requirements that each company disclose

Whether members of the committee nominating directors satisfy independence requirements and what minimum qualifications and standards the company expects of director nominees.

Whether the company has a process by which shareholders can communicate with directors and—if not—an explanation why and whether the company screens such communications and—if so—in what way.

The commission also approved rules the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq stock market adopted to strengthen listed companies’ corporate governance standards (www.sec.gov/rules/sro/34-48745.htm). They tighten the definition of director independence and require the majority of a listed company’s board members to comply with the stricter standards. The rules also mandate and facilitate independent director oversight of corporate governance, auditing, director nomination and compensation functions.management control systems. Comments are due by February 4.

GASB publishes Statement no. 42, Accounting and Financial Reporting for Impairment of Capital Assets and for Insurance Recoveries, which requires governments to report in their financial statements the effects of capital asset impairment when it occurs. Events that could produce such results include physical damage, variations in legal or environmental factors, technological changes or obsolescence, alterations in the manner or duration of an asset’s use and construction stoppage. The guidance also enhances financial statements’ comparability by requiring all governments to account for insurance recoveries in the same manner (www.gasb.org/news/nr111803.html). The statement is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15 and is available from the GASB order department at 800-748-0659 or on the Web at http://store.yahoo.com/gasbpubs/gs42.html.

The AICPA issues its annual ranking of the 10 technologies most likely to significantly affect practitioners, their clients and their employers in the coming year. Topping the current list (www.cpa2biz.com/toptechs) is information security—the use of hardware, software, processes and procedures to protect the data in an organization’s systems—followed by antispam technology to reduce or eliminate unwanted e-mail; digital optimization—the process of capturing and managing documents electronically; database-application integration to ensure the synchronization of information in each of a company’s business systems; wireless communications technologies; disaster recovery; data mining; virtual office technologies that enable personnel to collaborate regardless of physical location; Internet technologies that support XBRL-based business transactions; and e-mail, voice mail and instant messaging applications.

The board of the International Federation of Accountants in November appointed John Kellas, who is a fellow of the chartered accountants (FCA), chairman of the international auditing and assurance standards board (IAASB) for a three-year term that began January 1. Kellas, a partner in KPMG LLP’s London office and chairman of the firm’s assurance technical committee, has served on the IAASB and its predecessor, the international auditing practices committee, since October 2000.

FASB selects Jennifer Moriarty, an auditor with KPMG LLP’s New York financial services practice, as its first XBRL fellow. FASB created the fellowship to investigate ways in which XBRL and related technologies can improve corporate financial reporting and to develop policy recommendations on XBRL’s role in FASB standard-setting activities.

The Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board (FASAB) announces a practice fellow program and a government fellow program. The former offers public accountants an opportunity to participate in the federal financial accounting standard-setting process for a two-year term. Candidates chosen for the latter program spend six months to one year with FASAB working with its accounting and auditing policy committee and on research and technical projects. More information is available from Wendy Comes, FASAB’s executive director, at 202-512-7350 or comesw@fasab.gov.