Review the Strategic Plan on the AcSB's website.

Review the press release on the AcSB's website.

Following the 2015 Agenda Consultation, the Board has been considering whether to propose amendments to IAS 19 for pension benefits that depend on the return on a specified pool of assets (reference assets). The pension benefits to be paid to employees reflect the variability inherent in the reference assets, yet IAS 19 requires a discount rate that reflects high-quality corporate bonds. Applying the IAS 19 discount rate can overstate the pension liability, producing information that is not relevant to users of financial statements. At the IASB meeting in October 2021, the staff recommended the Board propose that an entity estimate the ultimate cost of providing pension benefits that vary with asset returns applying the IAS 19 discount rate, but only when the IAS 19 discount rate is lower than the expected rate of return on the reference assets. Only 5 IASB members voted to continue the project and therefore the project will be stopped. All Board members supported the staff recommendation to consider any further work as part of the Third Agenda Consultation.

Review the press release on the IFRS Foundation’s website.

The government has decided to adopt IFRS 17 for income tax accounting purposes but to make an exemption for the CSM so that tax revenue is not deferred. Again, the total tax revenue does not change. Insurers simply cannot defer tax revenue by applying the CSM under IFRS 17.

Review the article on the Globe and Mail's website.

The statement notes that IOSCO’s endorsement of the final standards once these are issued by the ISSB would be a landmark in sustainable finance as it would support IOSCO members as they consider how to adopt, apply or be informed by the ISSB standards as the baseline for their own sustainable reporting requirements. Next steps IOSCO will take will be reviewing the draft standards and follow subsequent developments at the ISSB so that the potential endorsement of the final standards can follow quickly. The statement points out:

IOSCO has set up the structures needed to review the draft standards proposed by the ISSB and will continue to engage closely and constructively with the standards board throughout its review process. IOSCO is seeking to finalise its endorsement process shortly after the ISSB finalizes the standards.

Review the full statement on the IOSCO's website.

Specifically, the working group will “discuss compatibility of those initiatives to establish how the global baseline, fully responding to the needs of global market participants, can contribute to optimizing reporting efficiency for companies in those jurisdictions and how those jurisdictions can build upon the global baseline according to their needs.”

The working group consists of members from the Chinese Ministry of Finance, the European Commission, the European Financial Reporting Advisory Group, the Japanese Financial Services Authority, the Sustainability Standards Board of Japan Preparation Committee, the United Kingdom Financial Conduct Authority and the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

Review the press release on the IFRS Foundation’s website.

The Montreal centre will host key functions on behalf of the ISSB, including the coordination of activity across the Americas. The five-year agreement states that Montreal will host significant standard-setting responsibilities and associated functions, including a share of board meetings, leadership and resources.

Review the press release on the IFRS Foundation's website.

The webinars lasted ap­prox­i­mately 60 minutes and discuss the following:

• Introduction and overview of the exposure drafts (EDs) (IFRS S1 — General Requirements for Disclosure of Sustainability-related Financial Information and IFRS S2 — Climate-related Disclosures).
• How to respond to the EDs.
• Question and answers.

Review the press release on the IFRS Foundation's website.

The proposed new rules and amendments would require, among other things, additional disclosures about SPAC sponsors, conflicts of interest, and sources of dilution. They also would require additional disclosures regarding business combination transactions between SPACs and private operating companies, including disclosures relating to the fairness of these transactions. Further, the new rules would address issues relating to projections made by SPACs and their target companies, including the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act safe harbor for forward-looking statements and the use of projections in Commission filings and in business combination transactions.

If adopted, the proposed rules would more closely align the required financial statements of private operating companies in transactions involving shell companies with those required in registration statements for an initial public offering.

The proposal also includes a new rule addressing the status of SPACs under the Investment Company Act of 1940, which is designed to increase attention among SPACs about this important assessment.  Under the proposed rule, SPACs that satisfy certain conditions that limit their duration, asset composition, business purpose, and activities would not be required to register under the Investment Company Act.

Review the press release, proposed rule and fact sheet on the SEC's website.

Below is an analysis of all changes made to the work plan since our last analysis on March 28, 2022.

Standard-setting projects

• Climate-related disclosures — An ISSB project newly added to the workplan; feedback on the exposure draft will be discussed in H2 2022
• Disclosure initiative — Subsidiaries without public accountability: Disclosures — The IASB has now discussed the feedback to the exposure draft; the next project step will be a decision on the project direction expected in June 2022
• General sustainability-related disclosures — An ISSB project newly added to the workplan; feedback on the exposure draft will be discussed in H2 2022
• Management commentary — The IASB has now discussed the feedback to the exposure draft; the next project step will be a decision on the project direction (no date given)
• Second comprehensive review of the IFRS for SMEs — An exposure draft is now expected in Q3 2022 (previously H2 2022)

Maintenance projects

• Lease liability in a sale and leaseback — Final amendments are now expected in Q3 2022 (previously H2 2022)
• Non-current liabilities with covenants — Exposure draft feedback is now expected in June 2022 (previously Q2 2022)
• Supplier finance arrangements — Exposure draft feedback is now expected in June 2022 (previously Q2 2022)

Research projects

• Pension benefits that depend on asset returns — A concluding project summary has been published and the project has, therefore, been removed from the work plan
• Post implementation review of IFRS 10, IFRS 11, and IFRS 12 — A feedback statement is now expected in June 2022 (previously Q2 2022)

Other projects

• no changes

The revised IASB work plan is available on the Board's website.

The webinar, hosted by ISSB Vice-Chair Sue Lloyd, will offer an overview of ED/2022/S1 General Requirements for Disclosure of Sustainability-Related Financial Information and ED/2022/S2 Climate-related Disclosures and will provide the opportunity to ask questions.

For the convenience of stakeholders in different time zones, there will be two sessions of the webinar, one a t 9:00 BST and one at 17:00 BST.

Registration for the webinar is now open on the IFRS Foundation's website.