IASB meeting — 16–17 February 2016

Start date:

End date:

Location: London

IASB (International Accounting Standards Board)

The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) met at its offices in London on 16–17 February 2016.

The highlight and only substantial decision was in relation to Insurance Contracts. The Board voted to have the staff start the process of preparing the new IFRS for the balloting (the formal approval by the IASB of the Standard). The Board decided that the proposals need not be re-exposed. However, Board members were aware of the need to have a rigorous drafting process with intensive but targeted consultation on the wording. There was some disagreement on the extent of examples that would be necessary to make the standard operational, so it will be interesting to see how that develops. 

It is not clear yet what the timetable is for the balloting process, but the decision creates the possibility that the new IFRS will be issued by the end of this year.    

The other topics discussed were liabilities-equity, goodwill and implementation. The IASB is making progress on what they are calling Approach Gamma on the distinction between liabilities and equity. This “new” approach (we hope the label Approach Gamma will disappear and be replaced by a more helpful description) is described as being closer to the current IAS 32 model than some of the other approaches discussed. Less progress was made on accounting for goodwill. The IASB plans to discuss this topic with the FASB later this year, and the IASB wants more analysis done before that meeting. 

Summaries of the board discussions are incorporated into the summaries below.

Agenda for the meeting


Tuesday, 16 February 2016 (09:30–14:15)

  • Insurance contracts — whether to grant permission to begin the balloting process or whether it considers that it needs to re-expose the new insurance contracts Standard.
  • Goodwill and impairment

Wednesday, 17 February 2016 (09:00–15:00)

  • IFRS implementation issues — IFRIC Update.
  • Financial instruments with characteristics of equity — current and next steps.

Agenda papers for this meeting are available on the IASB's website.

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