Download the document from the AcSB's website.

The AcSB would like input from Canadian respondents on the following additional question regarding the proposed amendments:

The IASB has developed the proposed amendments in accordance with its due process for application around the world. Assuming the Exposure Draft proposals are finalized and approved by the IASB in accordance with its due process, do you think that the proposals are appropriate for application in Canada? If not, please specify which aspects of the proposals, and what
circumstances, make the accounting requirements proposed in the Exposure Draft inappropriate.

Review the press release and Exposure Draft on the AcSB's website.

SAS 134 “addresses the auditor’s responsibility to form an opinion on the financial statements and the form and content of the auditor’s report issued as a result of an audit of financial statements.” This SAS also discusses “the auditor’s responsibilities, and the form and content of the auditor’s report, when the auditor concludes that a modification to the auditor’s opinion on the financial statements is necessary, and when additional communications are necessary in the auditor’s report.”

SAS 135 “is intended to more closely align [AICPA] guidance with the PCAOB's standards by primarily amending AU-C section 260, Communications With Those Charged With Governance, AU-C section 550, Related Parties, and AU-C section 240, Consideration of Fraud in a Financial Statement Audit, in AICPA Professional Standards.”

Review the press release on the AICPA’s website.

Mr. Bricker was ap­pointed acting chief ac­coun­tant in the SEC's Office of the Chief Ac­coun­tant in July 2016. He was named to the po­si­tion per­ma­nently in No­vem­ber 2016.

Mr. Teotia was ap­pointed deputy chief ac­coun­tant in March 2017. He is a former partner at De­loitte & Touche LLP.

For more in­for­ma­tion, see the press re­leases on Mr. Bricker’s de­par­ture and Mr. Teotia’s ap­point­ment on the SEC's Web site.

Mr. Jones' work as an accounting stan­dard-set­ter followed a suc­cess­ful career in in­vest­ment banking. In 2007, Financial Ex­ec­u­tives International recog­nized his career achieve­ments by inducting him into the FEI Hall of Fame.

Download the statement re the passing of Mr Jones on the IASB website.

The new European Single Elec­tronic Format (ESEF) aims at improving ac­ces­si­bil­ity and at making the in­for­ma­tion much more user-friendly. The move will also fa­cil­i­tate the avail­abil­ity of key financial in­for­ma­tion in all EU official languages. In support of these new rules, the European Se­cu­ri­ties and Markets Authority (ESMA) has prepared an ESEF Reporting Manual and ESEF taxonomy files to help companies in their prepa­ra­tion. The new pro­vi­sions will be updated on a yearly basis to reflect possible updates to the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) taxonomy, which aims to improve com­mu­ni­ca­tion between preparers and users of financial state­ments.

Please click for the following ad­di­tional in­for­ma­tion:

• European Com­mis­sion press release
• ESEF Reg­u­la­tion as published in the Official Journal of the European Union
• ESEF Q&As
• ESEF Reporting Manual
• ESEF taxonomy files

In 2015, the FRC published a discussion paper on the same topic found that "whilst the system of financial reporting is not fundamentally flawed, there is a higher incidence of poorer quality annual reports by smaller quoted companies than by their larger counterparts". Therefore, the FRC has developed a guide that offers practical, cost-effective suggestions on how smaller quoted companies can improve the quality of their financial reporting and suggested questions for audit committees to ask themselves and those associated with the financial reporting process that are designed to encourage the smaller quoted companies to reflect on current practices and consider areas for improvement. The guide not only builds on the 2015 discussion paper but also includes more recent developments such as three new international accounting standards, on revenue (IFRS 15), leases (IFRS 16) and financial instruments (IFRS 9), coming into effect in the last three years.

Review the guide on the FRC's website.

Listen to the 10-minute podcast on the Board's website.

The Board uses the annual improvements process to make necessary, but non-urgent, amendments to IFRS Standards^® that will not be included as part of another major project.

The ED proposes the following amendments:

In June 2018, the Board tentatively decided to also propose some amendments to IFRS 17, Insurance Contracts as part of its next cycle of annual improvements. However, these proposed amendments have now been moved the general project regarding proposed amendments to IFRS 17 that will see an exposure draft in June 2019.

ED/2019/2 Annual Improvements to IFRS Standards 2018–2020 does not contain proposed effective dates for the proposed amendments as the intention is to decide on these after the exposure period.

Review the following additional information:

• Press release
• Exposure draft

Background

In March 2018, the IASB issued the 2018 Conceptual Framework and most references to the Framework included in IFRS Standards^® were updated to the 2018 Framework at that time. However, paragraph 11 of IFRS 3, Business Combinations, which still refers to the 1989 Framework, was not updated as this could have caused conflicts for entities applying IFRS 3.

Potential conflicts occur as the definition of assets and liabilities in the 2018 Framework differ to those in the 1989 Framework potentially leading to day 2 gains or losses post-acquisition for some balances recognized.

The IASB has now identified three possible amendments to IFRS 3 that would update IFRS 3 without significantly changing its requirements.

Suggested changes

The changes proposed in ED/2019/3 Reference to the Conceptual Framework (Proposed amendments to IFRS 3):

• update IFRS 3 so that it refers to the 2018 Conceptual Framework instead of the 1989 Framework;
• add to IFRS 3 a requirement that, for transactions and other events within the scope of IAS 37 or IFRIC 21, an acquirer should apply IAS 37 or IFRIC 21 (instead of the Conceptual Framework) to identify the liabilities it has assumed in a business combination; and
• add to IFRS 3 an explicit statement that an acquirer should not recognize contingent assets acquired in a business combination.

The exposure draft also notes alternative approaches considered by the Board as well as the Board's reasons for not choosing those.

Comments on the proposed changes are requested by September 27, 2019.

Effective date

The exposure draft does not contain a proposed effective date for the amendments as the intention is to decide on it after the exposure period. However, it is already clear that early application would be permitted if an entity also applies all other updated references (published together with the updated Conceptual Framework) at the same time or earlier.

Additional information

• IASB press release
• Exposure draft