The aim of the task force is for listed companies to produce fully-tagged financial statements using the IFRS Taxonomy. Detailed tagging up to 'Level 4' will be applied to participants' financial statements, whereby all primary financial statement line items and notes disclosures will be tagged using the IFRS Taxonomy 2011.

The establishment of the task force follows a pilot initiative launched in April 2010 to work with US-listed foreign companies to produce IFRS financial reports in XBRL that are compliant with United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) requirements. The pilot initiative involved the use of 'Level 1' XBRL tagging, i.e. all items in the primary financial statements were tagged while notes were tagged using a single text block. The 'Level 4' tagging in this initiative therefore represents a more in-depth test of the XBRL Taxonomy.

Entities interested in participating in the task force should express their interest by 10 April 2011, with participants to be chosen and notified by 15 April 2011. Click for IFRS Foundation press release (link to IASB website).

The Competitiveness (Internal Market, Industry, Research and Space) Council of the European Union, has raised country-by-country reporting by mining and oil and gas companies as part of its conclusions on tackling the challenges on raw materials and in commodity markets.

In the conclusions from a meeting held in Brussels on 10 March 2011, the Council:

• Called for continued support to the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (see www.eiti.org), the sharing of best practices with the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and regional development banks, as well as promoting transparency, good governance and sustainability standards throughout the raw materials supply chain in, amongst other things, EU development instruments
• Invited the European Commission to come forward with initiatives, in consultation with Member States and relevant stakeholders, on the disclosure of financial information by companies working in the extractive industry, including the possible adoption of a country-by-country reporting requirement, International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) for the extractive industry, and the monitoring of third-country legislation.

The IASB's Discussion Paper on Extractive Industries, published in April 2010, included the 'Publish What You Pay' (PWYP) proposals which called for country-by-country reporting. The IASB is yet to make a decision whether or not to take the Extractives Activities project onto its agenda. The implementation of the United States Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act requires those engaged in the commercial development of oil, natural gas or minerals to include information about payments they or their subsidiaries, partners or affiliates have made to the US or a foreign government relating to the commercial development of oil, natural gas, and minerals.

Click for Council Conclusions from meeting on 10 March 2011 (link to the Council of the European Union website).

The UK Accounting Standards Board (ASB) has published a Financial Reporting Exposure Draft, FRED 45, which sets out proposals to be included in a Financial Reporting Standard for Public Benefit Entities (FRSPBE) to accompany the proposed Financial Reporting Standard for Medium-size Entities (FRSME).

The standard addresses concerns that IFRS do not address some transactions that are specific to the public benefit entity sector. It is proposed that the FRSPBE will be mandatory for entities which meet the definition of public benefit entity that apply the proposed FRSME.

Issues which have been addressed include:

• Concessionary loans;
• Property held for the provision of social benefits;
• Entity combinations;
• Impairment of assets;
• Funding commitments; and
• Incoming resources from non-exchange transactions (donations etc).

The consultation period will run until 31 July 2011. It is proposed that the new Standard will be effective at the same time as the FRSME which is currently proposed for annual reporting periods beginning on or after 1 July 2013.

The consultation period for the draft FRSME ends on 30 April 2011. The ASB will be considering the responses it receives to the draft in May 2011 and will post on its website its tentative decisions as this redeliberation work progresses.

Click for:

• FRED 45: Financial Reporting Standard for Public Benefit Entities (FRSPBE) (link to ASB website)
• Our UK country page

 

The IFAC Sustainability Framework provides guidance on embedding sustainability into an organisation and can be applied to entities of all sizes and complexities. IFAC considers the accountancy profession and professional accountants as an essential part of ensuring organisations better integrate and account for sustainability.

The second edition of the Framework extends the first edition's theme of integration from a business strategy and operational perspective to that of an integrated reporting perspective. The reporting perspective has been updated to provide guidance on how to improve stakeholder communications, based on sustainability reporting and providing an integrated view of environmental, social, and financial performance. (See also our earlier story on IFAC's report highlighting significant changes to financial reporting.)

An extract from the Framework in relation to financial reporting is outlined below:

How professional accountants and their organizations can facilitate improved reporting Developing a reporting strategy to enable high-quality reporting and disclosure that provides a complete picture of an organization's performance for a range of stakeholders Reflecting sustainability impacts in financial statements, particularly focusing on environmental impacts on assets, liabilities, income, and expenditure [includes a discussion on IFRSs relevant to environmental issues] Narrative reporting for enhanced transparency and closing the reporting gap that occurs when information that is important in running an organization is not captured in financial statements Understanding and reconciling approaches to applying materiality to sustainability reporting Establishing an approach to external assurance and review that adds credibility to an organization's reporting, and provides internal benefits such as helping to improve underlying reporting processes.

The G20 is expected to consider a call for integrated reporting later in the year. IFAC's Sustainability Framework 2.0 can be accessed through the IFAC website. Click for IFAC press release (link to IFAC website).

This global financial reporting webcast will discuss:

• The IASB's evolving agenda
• The IASB's recently issued proposals on hedge accounting, impairment and offsetting, and their potential effects
• Revised standards on consolidation and joint ventures with key insights for an effective transition

Webcast details are provided below:

Topic:	IFRSs: Important developments
Date and time:	Wednesday, 30 March 2011 9:00-10:00am London time (GMT +1), which is 4:00-5:00pm Hong Kong time (GMT +8)
Host:	Joel Osnoss, Global Managing Director – IFRS Clients and Markets
Presenters:	Randall Sogoloff, Leader – Global IFRS Communications Andrew Spooner, Lead IFRS Financial Instruments Partner
More information:	Click Here
Registration:	Click Here

The locations and dates of the roundtables are as follows:

• London – Tuesday, 3 May 2011
• Singapore – Friday, 6 May 2011
• Norwalk – Monday, 9 May 2011

Details of the location and timings for each roundtable are yet to be finalised. Participants at the roundtables are expected to also submit comments on the IASB exposure draft ED/2011/01 Offsetting Financial Assets and Financial Liabilities or the identical FASB Exposure Draft Balance Sheet (Topic 210): Offsetting in writing by Wednesday 20 April 2011 (users and analysts may be exempted).

Click for IASB press release (link to IASB website).

It recommends that "banks enhance the scope and nature of the reconciliation of IFRS to BIS-based capital ratios to improve the efficiency of markets in reducing information asymmetry about these variations".

For further information see the full report Here (link to ICFR website).

The project plan discusses items related to the remaining differences between existing Japanese GAAP and IFRSs, projects being addressed in the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the IASB and FASB and other projects. A number of controversial global developments are discussed, including the proposals in the IASB's post-employment benefits project regarding remeasurement, which the plan states "may become a difficult obstacle for convergence in Japan". The need for convergence between the IASB and FASB in relation to financial instruments is also cited as "an area of the greatest need for their convergence".

The project plan notes the following:

"2011 is the year for significant change in the IASB's leadership. Accordingly, the IASB's Work Plan does not show the timetable for 2012 and beyond. In Japan, market participants expect that within this year the uncertainty about the use of IFRSs would be eliminated. The Business Council of Financial Services Agency will also resume its deliberation. The convergence efforts by the ASBJ including the MoU projects need to be carried on taking account of the direction of the discussions at the Council. Consideration is needed about the pace and the expected effective dates for the development of standards and we need to extensively listen to views from market participants."

Click for ASBJ project plan (link to ASBJ website).

One set of accounting standards would be applied by entities with a for-profit objective, and the other would be applied by 'public benefit entities' (PBEs).

The ASRB is expected to release a Position Paper and Consultation Papers explaining the framework and the accounting standards to be applied by each category of entities by the end of April.

In relation to for-profit entities, New Zealand currently has a set of standards that are equivalent to IFRSs and a number of domestic standards and additional requirements. In the first phase of a convergence project between New Zealand and Australia, convergence of financial reporting requirements for these entities is currently being worked towards by the boards of both countries (expected to be completed by 30 June 2011).

New Zealand has being considering the possible adoption of International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSASs) for some time. It is possible that the ASRB may propose standards based on IPSASs for 'public benefit entities' under the new arrangements.

Click for ASRB notice (link to ASRB website). More background on the possible adoption of IPSASs in New Zealand can be found in this ASRB analysis (link to ASRB website).

Please click for EFRAG press release (link to EFRAG website) and the endorsement letter (PDF 1,592k).