Main provisions of the revised liability measurement ED:

• IAS 37 currently requires an entity to record an obligation as a liability only if it is probable (likelihood greater than 50%) that the obligation will result in an outflow of cash or other resources from the entity. The revised ED does not include the 'probability of outflows' criterion. Instead, an entity would account for uncertainty about the amount and timing of outflows by using a measurement that reflects their expected value, namely the probability-weighted average of the outflows for the range of possible outcomes.
• Liabilities within the scope of IAS 37 would be measured at the amount that the entity would rationally pay at the measurement date to be relieved of the liability. Normally, this amount would be an estimate of the present value of the resources required to fulfil the liability, which would take into account the expected outflows of resources, the time value of money, and the risk that the actual outflows might ultimately differ from the expected outflows.
• If the liability is to pay cash to a counterparty (for example to settle a legal dispute), the outflows would be the expected cash payments plus any associated costs, such as legal fees.
• If the liability is to undertake a service (for example, to decommission plant) at a future date, the outflows would be the amounts that the entity estimates it would pay a contractor at the future date to undertake the service on its behalf.

Although conditions may have improved somewhat in various markets around the globe, the FCAG believes it remains critically important to achieve a single set of high quality, globally converged financial reporting standards that provide consistent, unbiased, transparent and relevant information across geographical boundaries. We are encouraged by the Boards' progress to date in developing such standards....

The next several months are likely to see a number of key developments, including:

• the US Securities and Exchange Commission's response to the comments it has received regarding its proposed roadmap for the potential use of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) by domestic US reporting companies;
• the European Union's endorsement decision regarding the completed first part of the IASB's financial instruments project, IFRS 9 Financial Instruments: Classification and Measurement;
• the constituent feedback on the IASB's proposed standard from the second part of its financial instruments project, Financial Instruments: Amortized Cost and Impairment, and the issuance of its proposal on hedge accounting, the third and final part of its financial instruments project; and
• the issuance by the FASB of its comprehensive financial instruments proposals on classification and measurement, impairment, and hedge accounting.

In light of all of this, the FCAG expects to meet again in the fourth quarter of 2010 to review the Boards' further progress and any relevant external developments.