Comment deadline for limited-scope re-exposure draft Measurement of liabilities in IAS 37

The Board plans to publish an exposure draft (ED) on the revised proposals for the measurement of liabilities in IAS 37. The normal period for comment is 120 days, but the Due Process Handbook provides that if a matter is urgent, the document is short, or the IASB expects there to be broad consensus on the matter, a shorter comment period may be appropriate. As the re-exposure draft is a limited-scope document and significantly shorter than the entire Standard, the staff proposed a comment period ending on 12 April 2010, which approximates a comment period of 90 days. This will allow the staff to analyse the comments received in time for discussion at the May 2010 meeting. The staff mentioned that even if the ED is published in December, the comment period will still close on 12 April.

One Board member questioned whether there would be an overlap in comment periods between this ED and the ED on insurance contracts, due to the interaction between the two documents. Another Board member suggested extending the comment period to 120 days to allow some overlap as it is expected that the insurance ED will issued in April 2010.

When put to vote, the Board, by a narrow majority agreed to a shorter comment period of approximately 90 days ending on 12 April 2010.