On May 19, 2015, the International Accounting Standards Board held an education session in which it discussed the implications of the variable fee approach in the areas of (i) mutualization; (ii) revenue; and (iii) transition requirements.

In addition, the IASB also discussed (i) the accounting that would apply to contracts with participation features that would not be accounted for using the variable fee approach; (ii) whether to provide an accounting policy choice when an entity presents interest expense using the effective yield approach or the current period book yield approach; and (iii) an update from the staff on the interaction between IFRS 9, Financial Instruments and the Insurance Contracts project.

No decisions were made.

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On May 18 and 20, 2015, the IASB met to continue its discussions on rate regulation. At these sessions the IASB discussed implications of the tripartite relationships between (i) the rate-regulated entity and its customers; (ii) the rate-regulated entity and the rate regulator; and (iii) the rate regulator and the rate-regulated entity’s customers.

The IASB noted that existing predominant practice in IFRS financial statements deals with the first of these relationships. Thus, when applying existing Standards, an entity would use the terms and conditions in the individual contracts between the entity and its customers, which includes the regulated rate.

All IASB members decided, however, that the IASB should undertake standard-setting activity to also address the other two relationships, and that the form of that standard-setting activity would become apparent as the project progresses. All IASB members agreed that development of a second Discussion Paper would be the fastest way to progress the project.

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On May 19, 2015, the IASB met to discuss a proposed narrow-scope amendment to IFRS 8, Operating Segments. That amendment would respond to issues that had been identified for further investigation in the Report and Feedback Statement published by the IASB following its Post-implementation Review (PIR) of IFRS 8.

All eleven IASB members present tentatively decided that the areas identified in the PIR had been adequately investigated. The IASB asked the staff to prepare proposals for a narrow-scope amendment to IFRS 8 for future public consultation.

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On May 19, 2015, the IASB met to discuss issues relating to the guidance on principal versus agent considerations in IFRS 15, Revenue from Contracts with Customers. The following issues emerged from meetings of the Transition Resource Group for Revenue Recognition (TRG):

1. Control of a service in the context of the principal versus agent assessment
2. Identifying the specified good or service to be provided to the customer
3. The indicators in paragraph B37

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On May 19, 2015, the IASB met to discuss its approach to its research project on Share-based payments. The IASB noted the objective of the project is to identify whether, and if so where, IFRS 2, Share-based Payment causes perceived complexity. The IASB intends to use the main application issues that arise in practice to guide its work. The initial output of the project is expected to be a Research Paper, which would enable constituents to consider whether the IASB should do more on this subject.

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On May 19, 2015, the IASB reviewed the due process steps that had been taken to date in preparation for the publication of the Exposure Draft Annual Improvements to IFRS 2014—2016 Cycle. That Exposure Draft would include two proposed amendments that the IASB had already tentatively approved:

1. IFRS 1, First-time Adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards: short-term exemptions for first-time adopters. This amendment was tentatively approved by the IASB in December 2013.
2. IAS 28, Investments in Associates and Joint Ventures: clarification that measuring investees at fair value through profit or loss is an investment- by- investment choice. This amendment was tentatively approved by the IASB in January 2015.

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On May 19, 2015, the IASB reviewed the due process steps that had been taken to date in preparation for the publication of an Exposure Draft that proposes a narrow scope amendment to IAS 40, Investment Property.

All the twelve IASB members present at the meeting confirmed that they (i) do not intend to dissent from the publication of the proposed narrow scope amendment to IAS 40; (ii) agree with the proposed comment period of 120 days; and (iii) are satisfied that the IASB has completed all of the necessary due process steps on the project to date.

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On May 20, 2015, the IASB met to discuss the following issues as part of its Disclosure Initiative.

1. Distinction between changes in accounting policies and changes in accounting estimates
2. Changes in accounting estimates—new disclosures
3. Disclosure of accounting policies
4. Presentation on the face or in the notes

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