IASB chair speaks on integrated reporting
Apr 27, 2017
On April 27, 2017, the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) released a speech by IASB chair Hans Hoogervorst, given at the International Integrated Reporting Council’s (IIRC) council meeting, where he discussed the IASB’s approach to wider corporate reporting landscape, as well as the IASB’s conceptual framework and practice statement on management commentary related to integrated reporting.
Mr. Hoogervorst began by saying that the IASB is currently examining what the future role of IASB should be in regards to wider corporate reporting. The IASB initiated discussions during its March 2017 meeting. He mentioned that certain information that is needed by users to determine an entity’s value, such as a company’s intangibles, are not recognized in the financial statements. As stated in the IASB’s conceptual framework, the “general purpose financial reports are not designed to show the value of a reporting entity.” Mr. Hoogervorst noted that additional useful information needed to determine an entity’s value is often found integrated reporting.
In addition, Mr. Hoogervorst discussed the IASB’s 2010 Management Commentary Practice Statement. He stated that the practice statement encouraged managers to provide important context for the financial statement. This context is also considered an important component of integrated reporting. He concluded that there is “common ground between financial and integrated reporting.”
Lastly, he discussed that additional guidance has been issued by the UK Financial Reporting Council’s Strategic Report Guidance and the IIRC’s International <IR> Framework and that based on these documents as well as other considerations, the IASB may consider updating its practice statement.
Review the speech on the IASB’s website.