The FASB is in meetings all Wednesday, re-deliberating on the revised 2001 Exposure Draft, Business Combinations and Intangible Assets — Accounting for Goodwill and it will address the following issues:

• The criteria for recognizing acquired intangible assets separately from goodwill

• The accounting for negative goodwill, and related transition provisions

• Required documentation at the date a business combination is completed

• Required disclosures related to goodwill

• Nonamortization of goodwill

• Level of impairment testing

• Exceptions to the reporting unit definition

• The goodwill impairment test

Over the last month, the FASB has sifted through about 200 comment letters on many of these issues, and it intends to address the suggestions raised by respondents in the meeting. For a summary of the first 185 comment letters received in response to the Exposure Draft, click here.

The FASB has proposed to end the “pooling of interest” method for merger accounting, and it hopes to finalize its revisions to the rules governing the purchase method by June 30.