“We have seen 1,500 global companies adopt Integrated Reporting around the world, with its implementation already becoming mainstream in countries such as Japan and South Africa,” said IIRC CEO Richard Howitt in a statement. “This rapid adoption demonstrates the market view of the International <IR> Framework as a ground-breaking and beneficial tool. It’s now time for us to further assess how this tool is being used to assist the quality of the reporting, reinforce its relevance to new challenges and ensure it remains fully in tune with market needs.”

The IIRC also plans to convene focus groups around the world, in Australia, India, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Malaysia, Singapore, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States, with other locations to be announced later. The IIRC is asking for feedback by April 30, 2017.

Review the press release on the IIRC's website.

Foreign private issuers that prepare their financial statements in accordance with IFRS as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board may begin immediately to submit their financial statements in XBRL. Otherwise, all such foreign private issuers must submit their financial statements in XBRL for fiscal periods ending on or after December 15, 2017.

Review the press release and the notice on the SEC's website.

The recommendations are part of the SEC’s disclosure modernization initiative. iXBRL combines human readable HTML and machine readable XBRL in a single report. If adopted, it means that it will be easier to access and easier to understand, consume and analyse quarterly and annual financial statements in the United States. It will also mean the end of “dual filing” that has existed since 2009, in which a plain, unstructured HTML version of the disclosure was filed at (more or less) the same time as a structured XBRL version was submitted. And it means that the SEC in the US joins other major securities regulators including the JFSA in Japan, and ESMA, which governs disclosure regulation across Europe, in moving to use iXBRL to make fundamental data more suitable for the digital age.

The SEC also announced on March 1, 2017, that Foreign Private Issuers” (FPIs) can now use the IFRS taxonomy to file their financial statements in XBRL or Inline XBRL format. International businesses affected by this new ruling are advised to speak to their software vendor, filing agent or professional advisers about filing in iXBRL rather than XBRL so that they don’t have to switch again later.

Review the press release on the SEC's website.

In addition, the podcast features (1) updates on the recent meeting between the IASB, IFRS Foundation Trustees, and the IFRS Foundation Monitoring Board, (2) feedback on the proposed changes to the definition of a business consultation, (3) discussion on rate-regulated activities, (4) symmetric prepayment options comment period, and (5) sweep issues discussion on the new insurance contracts.

Review the press release on the IASB's website.

Below is an analysis of all changes made to the work plan since the last update in January 2017.

Stan­dard-set­ting and related projects

• Insurance contracts — the expected issuance of the IFRS is now marked as being expected within the next three months (May).

Nar­row-scope amend­ments

• Im­prove­ments to IFRS 8 resulting from the post-im­ple­men­ta­tion review of IFRS 8 — the expected pub­li­ca­tion of an exposure draft is now expected in March. Previously, it was expected in April.

IFRS Taxonomy

• Taxonomy update on insurance contracts — The expected issuance is now marked as being expected within the next three months (May).
• Common practice (agriculture, leisure, franchises, retail and financial institutions) — This project has completed its public consultation phase and is now in the drafting phase.

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

Meeting ac­tiv­i­ties included the following:

• Executive session — The Trustees discussed a number of important strategic issues:
  • Strategic workplan 2017 — The Trustees discussed the four primary strategic goals of the workplan.
  • Maintenance of IFRS — The Trustees received a presentation on the approach to the interpretations process.
  • Foundation’s location — The Trustees agreed that the Foundation should stay in London in the medium-term, but will reassess its location over time.
  • Presentation on the work of the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) — The Trustees noted that the IIRC will like to establish a closer relationship with the IASB.
  • Other issues — The Trustees discussed its self-assessment and were updated on the Asia Oceania office’s work on long-term investment and the effect of accounting information on investment decision-making. The Trustees also discussed the timetable for the 2016 Audited Financial statements.
  • Committee reports — The Trustees discussed reports from the Audit and Finance Committee, the Education and Content Services Committee, the Human Capital Committee, and the Nom­i­nat­ing Committee.
• IASB Chairman’s report — The Chair of the IASB provided the Trustees with an update on a number of the IASB’s technical ac­tiv­i­ties, agenda con­sul­ta­tion, engagement strategy, and implementation activities.
• Meeting with the Monitoring Board — The Trustees discussed the Foundation’s strategy, due process, and governance.
• Events in Paris — The Association Francaise des Enterprises Privees hosted a stake­holder event with the Trustees, which included the final Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa lecture.

The full report on the IFRS Foun­da­tion trustees’ meeting is available on the IASB’s website.

The CSA’s 2016 Enforcement Report highlights the enforcement actions taken by CSA members against those who breach Canada’s securities laws.

Some highlights from the 2016 Enforcement Report:

• 39 years of jail time ordered for those committing securities-related misconduct.
• $299 million in compensation that respondents undertook to return to investors through no-contest settlements and $51 million in restitution and disgorgement orders.
• 120 people and 82 companies placed under interim and asset freeze orders, preventing further harm to investors.

Review the press release and report on the CSA's website.

The study was conducted from November 2015 to June 2016 among all of the (then) 34 OECD countries. Of those 34 countries, 25 countries (73%) base their annual financial reports on accrual accounting, and another three countries (9%) are currently transitioning to accrual accounting. Only six countries still use cash accounting.

The study also points out that while the direct adoption of international accounting standards, such as International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) or International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), by national governments remains very low, almost 40% of the standard-setters use IPSAS (28%) or IFRS (9%) as primary or explicit references for developing their national standards.

The study 130 page study offers a short executive summary, a 15 page analysis of practices across all countries, and afterwards a detailed analysis of each country's accounting practice.

Review the study Accrual Practices and Reform Experiences in OECD Countries on the IFAC's website.

After years of outreach and deliberations, the Insurance Contracts standard is expected to be issued by the IASB this year. As a result, the AcSB will complete its due process prior to the standard becoming Canadian GAAP.

While some might assume the process is simple because our policy is to incorporate IFRSs as issued by the IASB into the CPA Canada Handbook –  Accounting, there are many steps that are taken to ensure that the standard meets the needs of our stakeholders. In fact, we spend over 40 per cent of our time influencing and adopting IFRSs.

Review the article on the AcSB's website.

Effective March 1, 2017, the Bank of Canada will reduce the number of foreign currency exchange rates published and no longer publish noon and closing rates. Instead, a single indicative rate per currency pair will be published each day.

The IFRS Discussion Group discussed the implications this change may have when applying the requirements in IAS 21, The Effects of Changes in Foreign Exchange Rates.

Review the article on the AcSB's website.