• Discussed at November 2009 IASB Meeting
• 26 November 2009: Exposure Draft issued. Click for More Information.
• Discussed at January 2010 IASB Meeting
• 28 January 2010: Final amendment to IFRS 1 issued. Click for More Information.

Discussion at the November 2009 IASB Meeting

The Board considered and approved a proposed amendment to IFRS 1, Appendix E Short-term Exemptions from IFRSs, to permit entities adopting IFRSs for the first time before 1 January 2010 to apply the transition provisions in paragraph 44G of IFRS 7 in their first IFRS financial statements. The Amendment was distributed in Ballot Draft form later in the meeting and the Exposure Draft (ED) is expected soon.

The Board agreed to amend IFRS 1 to state that an entity need not provide the comparative information required by the March 2009 amendments to IFRS 7 Improving Disclosures about Financial Instruments for first-time adopters adopting before 1 January 2010. As a result, IFRS 1, Appendix E, paragraph E1 will be amended as follows:

E1 A first-time adopter may apply the transitional provisions in paragraph 44G of IFRS 7 to the extent that the entity's first IFRS reporting period commences earlier than 1 January 2010

The Board agreed to propose that this amendment to IFRS 1 be effective for annual periods beginning on or after 1 July 2010 with early adoption permitted.

The ED will be published for a 30-day comment period as soon as possible (most likely during the weeks of 23 or 30 November, given that it has been balloted). The comments will be discussed at the January 2010 meeting, with the intention that the amendment is finalised at that meeting and issued soon thereafter.

November 2009: IASB proposes to provide disclosure relief under IFRS 1

On 26 November 2009, the IASB issued an exposure draft (ED) proposing to amend IFRS 1 First-time Adoption of IFRSs to state that an entity need not provide the comparative prior-period information required by the March 2009 amendments to IFRS 7 Improving Disclosures about Financial Instruments for first-time adopters adopting before 1 January 2010. As a result, IFRS 1, Appendix E, paragraph E1 will be amended as follows:

E1 A first-time adopter may apply the transitional provisions in paragraph 44G of IFRS 7 to the extent that the entity's first IFRS reporting period starts earlier than 1 January 2010.

Discussion at the January 2010 IASB Meeting

The Board analysed the comment letters received. As the majority of the comment letters were supportive, the Board decided to proceed to the ballot.

The Board considered whether the effective date should be brought to the start of 2010. Some Board embers noted that an earlier effective date might cause unintended legal issues in some jurisdictions. Therefore, the Board decided to retain the original proposed effective date (1 July 2010).

The Board decided to clarify in the amendment that the exemption from providing additional IFRS 7 disclosures relate to all comparative periods, including the opening statement of financial position. The Board also clarified that these requirements should be consistent for the first-time adopters as well as current users of the IFRSs.

January 2010: IASB amends IFRS 1 to add IFRS 7 disclosure exemption

On 28 January 2010 the IASB amended IFRS 1 First-time Adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards to exempt first-time adopters of IFRSs from providing the additional disclosures introduced in March 2009 by Improving Disclosures about Financial Instruments (Amendments to IFRS 7). Click for More Information.