Considering the realities of the Canadian market and the comments received, the CSA have concluded that it is appropriate to maintain its current approach to determining director and audit committee member independence. It recognizes that its current approach has benefits and limitations. Upon review, it is satisfied that it strikes an appropriate balance between affording sufficient discretion to the board of directors to determine whether an individual could reasonably be expected to exercise independent judgement, and providing prescriptive elements that preclude an individual from being considered independent in certain circumstances.

The CSA’s current approach has been in place since 2004 and it notes that stakeholders understand and have adapted accordingly. Making changes to the current approach or replacing it with an alternative approach could result in additional costs for issuers and efforts for investors to adapt to such changes. The CSA is of the view that, in this case, any potential benefits of a change to the approach are outweighed by the potential negative impact of implementing such a change.

Re­view the press re­lease on the CSA's web­site and the Staff Notice on the CSA mem­bers’ web­sites.

The proposed amendments to Rules 3-10 and 3-16 of Regulation S-X would focus disclosures on information that is material to investors given the specific facts and circumstances, make the disclosures easier to understand, and reduce the costs and burdens for registrants. By reducing compliance burdens, the proposed amendments should further encourage issuers to register debt offerings, and thus provide investors with additional protections that are not present in unregistered offerings.

Review the press release 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 June 22, 2018.

Research projects

• Business Com­bi­na­tions Under Common Control — The expected date of the decision paper is pushed into the second half of 2019.
• Dis­clo­sure Ini­tia­tive — Prin­ci­ples of Dis­clo­sure — This project is now in the summary stage.
• Discount Rates — This project is now in the summary stage which is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2019.
• Financial In­stru­ments with Char­ac­ter­is­tics of Equity — This project is now in the feedback stage which is expected to be completed in the first half of 2019.
• Post-Im­ple­men­ta­tion Review of IFRS 13 Fair Value Mea­sure­ment — A feedback statement is now expected in the fourth quarter of 2018.
• Share-Based Payment — This project is now in the summary stage which is expected to be completed in September 2018.

Main­te­nance projects

• Accounting Policies and Accounting Estimates (Amend­ments to IAS 8) — A decision on the project is expected in October 2018.
• Accounting Policy Changes (Amend­ments to IAS 8) — The expected date of the exposure draft is narrowed to the fourth quarter of 2018.
• Clas­si­fi­ca­tion of Li­a­bil­i­ties (Amend­ments to IAS 1) — A decision on the direction of the project is now expected in September 2018.
• Costs Con­sid­ered in Assessing Whether a Contract Is Onerous (Amend­ments to IAS 37) — This is a new project. An exposure draft is expected to be issued in the fourth quarter of 2018.
• De­f­i­n­i­tion of a Business (Amend­ments to IFRS 3) — The expected issuance of the IFRS amend­ments is now September 2018.
• Dis­clo­sure Ini­tia­tive — Targeted Stan­dards-Level Review of Dis­clo­sures — This project is now in the exposure draft stage.
• Im­prove­ments to IFRS 8 Operating Segments (Amend­ments to IFRS 8 and IAS 34) — A feedback statement is now expected in the fourth quarter of 2018.

Stan­dard-set­ting projects

• Man­age­ment Com­men­tary — An exposure draft is now expected in the first half of 2020.
• Rate-Reg­u­lated Ac­tiv­i­ties — The issuance of a dis­cus­sion paper or exposure draft is now expected in the second half of 2019.

Other projects

• IFRS Taxonomy Update — Common Practice (IFRS 13) — A proposed update is now expected in September 2018.

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

In the response to the consultation, Deloitte also notes that if reducing local GAAP differences were to be considered a priority in the EU and if feasibility studies show that obstacles can be overcome, it would favor initiatives that would gradually allow closer or fuller convergence with IFRS. This could take place through amendments to the Directives or the IAS Regulation allowing companies to voluntarily adopt IFRS in individual or consolidated financial statements, rather than leaving this to the discretion of Member States to decide whether or not this option is granted to the companies in their jurisdiction.

Please click to download the full comment letter here (cover letter with main messages first, followed by completed questionnaire).

The AcSB's new survey captures your feedback on the AcSB’s Draft Framework for Reporting Performance Measures and requests this information by September 17, 2018.

The AcSB’s target audience includes preparers, directors, users, practitioners, regulators, academics and standard setters.”

Here is a link to the survey on the AcSB's web­site.

The revised standard sets out a comprehensive framework that more clearly delineates the boundaries of acceptable inducements, and guides the behavior and actions of professional accountants in business and in public practice in situations involving inducements.

Central to this framework is a new intent test that prohibits the offering or accepting of inducements where there is actual or perceived intent to improperly influence the behavior of the recipient or of another individual. The framework also:

• Clarifies the meaning of an inducement;
• Establishes a requirement to understand and comply with laws and regulations that prohibit the offering or accepting of inducements in certain circumstances, such as in relation to bribery and corruption;
• Guides professional accountants in applying the enhanced conceptual framework underpinning the International Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants (including International Independence Standards) where there is no improper intent; and
• Provides enhanced guidance on the offering and accepting of inducements by professional accountants’ immediate or close family members.

The revisions to the Code become effective June 2019, including consequential amendments to the independence provisions of the Code addressing gifts and hospitality. The changes constitute the last piece of the recently revised and restructured Code.

Re­view the press re­lease and the revised standard on the IESBA's web­site.

The report provides an in-depth description of the current state of climate-related financial disclosure and effective disclosure practices among leading oil and gas companies.

It is available here on the WBCSD website.

This webcasts discusses the Board’s preferred approach and clas­si­fi­ca­tion of non-de­riv­a­tive financial in­stru­ments.

Future webcasts in the series will cover:

• Clas­si­fi­ca­tion of de­riv­a­tives on own equity.
• Clas­si­fi­ca­tion of compound in­stru­ments and re­demp­tion oblig­a­tion arrange­ments.
• Pre­sen­ta­tion of equity in­stru­ments.
• Pre­sen­ta­tion of financial li­a­bil­i­ties.

For more in­for­ma­tion, see the press release on the IASB’s website and the webcast on the IFRS Foun­da­tion’s YouTube channel.

Issuers and underwriters who rely on certain prospectus exemptions to distribute securities are required to file the Report within the prescribed timeframe. The amendments aim to provide greater clarity and flexibility regarding the certification requirement of the Report and streamline certain information requirements, while still providing regulators with the information necessary for oversight and policy development.

Provided all necessary ministerial approvals are obtained, the amendments will come into force on October 5, 2018.

Re­view the press re­lease on the CSA's web­site and the final amendments on the CSA mem­bers' web­site.

The CSA noted that it continues to see deficiencies in issuers’ use of non-GAAP financial measures, and this remains an area of focus for the CSA. It strongly encourages issuers to use this report as a guide to make improvements, as disclosure requirements are at the core of its investor protection regime.

Other areas where issuers can improve disclosures include, but are not limited to: fair value measurements and disclosures; forward looking information; discussions of issuers’ results of operations and significant projects in development; climate change disclosures; and mineral project disclosure. 

In fiscal 2018, 51 per cent (2017 – 43 per cent) of review outcomes required issuers to take action to improve and/or amend their disclosure, or resulted in the issuer being referred to enforcement, cease traded or placed on the default list.

Re­view the press re­lease on the CSA's web­site and the Staff No­tice on the CSA mem­bers' web­site.