The International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board® (IAASB®) has released proposals to enhance auditor reporting on special purpose financial statements. The Exposure Draft includes changes proposed to ISA 800, Special Considerations—Audits of Financial Statements Prepared in Accordance with Special Purpose Frameworks, and ISA 805, Special Considerations—Audits of Single Financial Statements and Specific Elements, Accounts or Items of a Financial Statement.

A new global survey of more than 3,400 members of IT association ISACA shows that close to half (46 percent) of respondents expect their organization to face a cyberattack in 2015 and 83 percent believe cyberattacks are one of the top three threats facing organizations today. Yet an alarming 86 percent say there is a global shortage of skilled cybersecurity professionals and only 38 percent feel prepared to fend off a sophisticated attack. The 2015 Global Cybersecurity Status Report survey was conducted just one week before US President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address, which discussed a range of actions to reduce cyberthreats and data privacy risks.

The Financial Reporting Council’s (FRC) annual review of developments in Corporate Governance and Stewardship for 2014 has seen an increase in signatories to the Stewardship Code with signs of better engagement with large companies by investment managers. However, more needs to be done to ensure asset owners and managers follow-through on their commitment to the principles set out in the Code.

The AICPA and CIMA, under the banner of their Chartered Global Management Accountant designation, presented the Greatest Potential Impact on Management Accounting Practice Award to Scott B. Jackson of the University of South Carolina, Timothy M. Keune of the University of Dayton and Leigh Salzsieder of the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Their paper, “Debt, Equity and Capital Investment,” shows that debt financing might push managers away from investing in projects that increase firm value, providing evidence about the effect of an organization’s capital structure on key internal decisions.

The International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board® (IAASB®) has released its new and revised Auditor Reporting standards, designed to significantly enhance auditor’s reports for investors and other users of financial statements.

Just 31% of businesses have significantly restructured their operations to help big data be at the heart of every business decision, according to new research from EY that looks at how companies are currently using big data analytics to find, measure, create and protect value across their organisations.

The biggest challenges facing small- and medium-sized accounting practices (SMPs) worldwide are complying with regulations and standards and attracting new clients, according to the 2014 IFAC® Global SMP Survey.

Investor Update aims to make it easy for investors to keep up with changes in the world of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and how those changes may affect an investor's day job. In this issue: Current projects that need input from the investment community; Spotlight: judgments & estimates in revenue recognition; In Profile: part two of our discussions with IASB member Patrick Finnegan; and Stay up to date on recent events and meet our the appointed Capital Markets Advisory Committeee (CMAC) members.

The IFRS Foundation has made available both the Japanese and Korean label linkbase files for the IFRS Taxonomy 2014.

The Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO) has released a new research report that provides direction on how the Internal Control-Integrated Framework (2013) and the Enterprise Risk Management-Integrated Framework (2004) can help organizations effectively and efficiently evaluate and manage cyber risks.

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