At its meeting on November 14, 2016, the IASB discussed the comments on the Exposure Draft IFRS Practice Statement, Application of Materiality to Financial Statements. The Board discussed and tentatively made decisions on the following: (i) application of materiality to errors; (ii) the impact of covenants on the application of materiality; (iii) how stewardship could be considered when applying materiality; (iv) recognition and measurement; (v) the applicability to entities applying the IFRS for SMEs Standard; and (vi) status and form of the guidance.

At a future meeting the Board is expected to once again discuss guidance on the application of materiality to prior period information; the staff will also bring a paper summarizing the due process steps completed to date.

Review the IASB Update on the IASB's Web site.

At its meeting on November 15, 2016, the IASB discussed comments received on the Exposure Draft. The Board discussed the following: (i) that the concepts supporting the liability definition should specify that the entity must have ‘no practical ability to avoid’ transferring an economic resource; (ii) the meaning of the phrase ‘as a result of past events’ in the definition of a liability; and (iii) the effects of proposed changes to the Conceptual Framework on preparers. No decisions were made at the Board meeting.

Review the IASB Update on the IASB's Web site.

At its meeting on November 16, 2016 the IASB discussed issues that arose during the external testing and drafting of the forthcoming insurance contracts Standard. The Board discussed and tentatively made decisions on the following: (i) level of aggregation; (ii) experience adjustments; (iii) transition issues; (iv) risk mitigation; (v) other sweep issues; and (vi) mandatory effective date of IFRS 17.

IFRS 17 is expected to be issued in the first half of 2017.

Review the IASB Update on the IASB's Web site.