Part I - IFRS

IASB posts webcast on IFRS 17: What are the measurement essentials for insurance contracts?

Jul 27, 2017

On July 27, 2017, the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) staff made avail-able on its website a two-part webinar on the recently issued standard IFRS 17 'Insurance Contracts'. The webinar discusses 1) initial recognition; and 2) subsequent measurement requirements in IFRS 17.

The webinar is part of an International Accounting Standards Board series supporting the implementation of IFRS 17.

The two part we­b­cast can be ac­cessed via the IFRS 17 im­ple­men­ta­tion page.

IFRS Foundation issues Formula Linkbase 2017

Jul 26, 2017

On July 26, 2017, the IFRS Foun­da­tion issued the 2017 IFRS Taxonomy Formula Linkbase. The Formula Linkbase is updated from the 2016 version; it is designed to help improve the data quality of IFRS Taxonomy filings and to provide additional guidance for both technical and financial reporting audiences so that they can better understand the IFRS concepts and their meanings.

For more information, see the press release on the IASB's website.

 

IASB posts webcast on IFRS 16: Lessee Disclosure

Jul 24, 2017

On July 24, 2017, the In­ter­na­tional Ac­count­ing Stan­dards Board (IASB) staff made avail­able a webcast with Board member Stephen Cooper discussing the disclosure requirements for lessees in IFRS 16 Leases. This is the sixth in a series of webcasts that the International Accounting Standards Board (Board) is providing to support the implementation of IFRS 16.

As well as a discussion on IFRS 16 requirements, the webcast contains insights from Stephen Cooper, including his views on: (i) the Board’s rationale for the disclosure requirements in IFRS 16; (ii) the information needs of users of financial statements; and (iii) key considerations for a lessee in determining what information is most relevant to users of financial statements.

The webcast can be accessed via the IFRS 16 implementation page.

 

Updated IASB work plan — Analysis

Jul 21, 2017

On July 21, 2017, following its July 2017 meeting, the IASB issued an updated work plan. A detailed analysis of the changes that have resulted from the meeting and other de­vel­op­ments in the month of July is set out below. The changes are minor and the main message is that the IASB does currently not intend to issue any pro­nounce­ments until September 2017.

General remarks

Below is an analysis of all changes made to the work plan since our last analysis on June 26, 2017.

Stan­dard-set­ting projects

  • No changes

Main­te­nance projects

Research projects

Other projects

  • No changes

The above is a com­par­i­son of the IASB work plan at June 26, 2017 and at July 21, 2017. For access to the current IASB work plan at any time, please click here.

 

 

IASB appoints new Executive Technical Director

Jul 20, 2017

On July 20, 2017, the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) announced that it has appointed Nili Shah as Executive Technical Director. She follows Hugh Shields in the role of leading the IASB's technical staff and being responsible for the efficient delivery of all technical activities.

Ms. Shah, who will take office in October 2017, is currently Deputy Chief Ac­coun­tant of the Division of Cor­po­ra­tion Finance of the US Se­cu­ri­ties and Exchange Com­mis­sion (SEC). In that capacity she has supported the SEC staff’s dis­cus­sions on IFRSs within the International Or­ga­ni­za­tion of Se­cu­ri­ties Com­mis­sion’s (IOSCO) accounting technical committee.

For more in­for­ma­tion, see the press release on the IASB website.

IFRS 17 webinar for investors

Jul 20, 2017

On July 20, 2017, the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) has made available a recording of a webinar held jointly by the IFRS Foundation and the Canadian Accounting Standards Board on IFRS 17 in July 2017.

The webinar was tailored to investors and covered the following questions:

  • Why IFRS 17 was developed?
  • How does IFRS 17 work?
  • What are the benefits of IFRS 17?

There is also a section with answers to questions submitted by investors during the webinar.

Listen to the webinar through the press release on the IASB website.

Illustrative tagging for IFRS 17

Jul 19, 2017

On July 19, 2017, the IFRS Foundation published illustrative tagging for the proposed IFRS Taxonomy update regarding IFRS 17 'Insurance Contracts'.

The illustrative tagging shows how selected information from the Illustrative Examples accompanying IFRS 17 could be tagged using the IFRS Taxonomy Update that was proposed together with the issuance of IFRS 17 on May 18, 2017 and is currently expected to be published in the fourth quarter of 2017.

The illustrative tagging is available through the IASB's supporting material section of the Taxonomy Update project page.

HLEG questionnaire on interim report

Jul 19, 2017

On July 18, 2017, the High-Level Expert Group (HLEG) on Sustainable Finance, established by the European Commission, published a first report setting out concrete steps to create a financial system that supports sustainable investments. The HLEG has now launched a questionnaire aimed at gathering targeted feedback on the analysis and reflections in the interim report and informing the preparation of the final report.

This questionnaire is open from July 18, 2017 through September 20, 2017. A copy of the report can be accessed here.

House Democrats Call on FASB to Require Country-by-Country Reporting

Jul 19, 2017

On July 19, 2017, Accounting Today published an article where they discuss how a group of 16 House Democrats sent a letter to the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) asking it to require multinational companies to disclose more country-by-country reporting information in their public financial statements about where they pay taxes and book profits.

The move comes amid the rollout of country-by-country reporting requirements by the Internal Revenue Service that the U.S. is carrying out in conjunction with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s plan for combating base erosion and profit shifting, known as OECD BEPS.

Review the article, the House Democrats' letter to the FASB and the SEC's Investor Advisory Committee's letter to the FASB.

EFRAG’s Summary Report of the joint investor outreach event on the Discussion Paper: Disclosure Initiative—Principles of Disclosure

Jul 19, 2017

On July 19, 2017, the European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG) published a summary report of an outreach event for investors held on July 3, 2017 in Brussels on the Discussion Paper: Disclosure Initiative—Principles of Disclosure

The event was organized by the International Accounting Standards Board, in conjunction with EFRAG, the European Federation of Financial Analysts Societies (EFFAS), and the Association Belge des Analystes Financiers (ABAF/BVFA).

It introduced the main elements of the Discussion Paper, the preliminary positions held, focused on the information needs of investors, and sought input on the following issues included in the Discussion Paper: (i) Can principles make communication more effective? (ii) What do investors think are useful examples of disclosures in the financial statements? (iii) Alternative (non-IFRS) performance measures in the financial statements: misleading or useful? (iv) Should unusual or infrequently occurring items be separately reported and if so how? and (v) How important is the application of materiality when deciding what and how to disclose information?

Re­view the Summary Report on the IASB’s website.

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