IFRS Interpretations Committee

IFRS IC (IFRS Interpretations Committee) (blue)

Background

Role of the IFRS Interpretations Committee

Under the IFRS Foundation Constitution, the IFRS Interpretations Committee (the 'Committee'), formerly called the International Financial Reporting Interpretations Committee (IFRIC), has the following roles:

  • interpret the application of IFRSs and provide timely guidance on financial reporting issues not specifically addressed in IFRSs, in the context of the IASB’s Framework, and undertake other tasks at the request of the IASB
  • in carrying out its work above, have regard to the IASB‘s objective of working actively with national standard-setters to bring about convergence of national accounting standards and IFRSs to high quality solutions
  • publish after clearance by the IASB draft Interpretations for public comment and consider comments made within a reasonable period before finalising an Interpretation
  • report to the IASB and obtain the approval of nine of its members for final Interpretations if there are fewer than sixteen members, or by ten of its members if there are sixteen members.

Composition

The Committee comprises fourteen voting members, appointed by the IFRS Foundation Trustees for renewable terms of three years.

The Trustees select members of the Committee so that it comprises a group of people representing, within that group, the best available combination of technical expertise and diversity of international business and market experience in the practical application of IFRSs and analysis of financial statements prepared in accordance with IFRSs.

Development and approval of Interpretations

Interpretations are developed by the Committee, exposed for public comment (these are called Draft Interpretations and numbered D1, D2, etc.), approved by IFRIC, and then sent to the IASB Board for review and approval as Final Interpretations. At the IFRIC level, consensus is reached if not more than three of the 14 Interpretations Committee members object to a draft Interpretation or final Interpretation. At the Board level, the same vote is required as for a Standard, which is 9 of the 14 Board members.

Authority of Interpretations

Interpretations are part of IASB's authoritative literature (see IAS 1 Presentation of Financial Statements). Therefore, financial statements may not be described as complying with International Financial Reporting Standards unless they comply with all the requirements of each applicable Standard and each applicable Interpretation.

Annual improvements

In 2009 the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) asked the (then) IFRIC to assume responsibility for the annual process for making relatively minor improvements to IFRSs. The IASB must approve both the Exposure Draft of proposed improvements and the final improvements (which are amendments to IFRSs).

Current membership of the IFRS Interpretations Committee

Voting members

Name Position Term
Renata Bandeira Accounting and Tax Director, GOL Linhas Aéreas Inteligentes SA Term expires 30 June 2026
Andre Besson Head of Financial Reporting Guidelines at Nestlé SA, Switzerland Term expires 30 June 2027
Lisa Bomba Managing Director, Deutsche Bank Term expires 30 June 2025
Jens Freiberg Head of BDO Germany’s Accounting Advisory and Technical Accounting Groups Term expires 30 June 2025
Karsten Ganssauge Senior Partner, Global Accounting Consulting Services, PwC Term expires 30 June 2025
Karen Higgins Leader of the Canadian IFRS Center of Excellence of Deloitte, and the Canadian firm representative on the Deloitte Global IFRS Leadership Team Term expires 30 June 2027
Guy Jones Partner in the Toronto office of EY’s Professional Practice Group and member of EY’s Global IFRS Policy Committee Term expires 30 June 2024
Goro Kumagai Senior Fellow of the Markets Strategic Intelligence Department at Mizuho Securities Co. and Visiting Professor of the Graduate School of Management at Kyoto University Term expires 30 June 2024
M P Vijay Kumar Chief Financial Officer at Sify Technologies, council member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and chair of its Accounting Standards Board Term expires 30 June 2027
Yanli Liu Executive Vice President and the Chief Finance Officer of the State Grid International Development Company Ltd Term expires 30 June 2025
Sophie Massol Head of Group Accounting Policies, AXA Term expires 30 June 2026
Jon Nelson Vice President and Corporate Controller, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles Term expires 30 June 2026
Brian O'Donovan Partner, KPMG Term expires 30 June 2025
Donné Sephton Head of Advisory Services, FirstRand Limited group Term expires 30 June 2026

Non-voting Chair

  • Bruce Mackenzie, IFRS Interpretations Committee Chair and IASB Board member

Official observers

Correction list for hyphenation

These words serve as exceptions. Once entered, they are only hyphenated at the specified hyphenation points. Each word should be on a separate line.