Ms. Lloyd has been an IASB Board member since 2014. Previously, she served as the Director of Capital Markets and Senior Director of Technical Activities at the IASB. In addition, Ms. Lloyd is a former member of the Australian Accounting Standards Board.

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

The panel was chaired by IASB member Gary Kabureck. Panelists included Karen Higgins (Vice-Chair of the AcSB and Partner at Deloitte), Karyn Brooks (Retired Senior Vice President and Controller at Bell Canada and member of the Transition Resource Group for Revenue Recognition), Cameron McInnis (Chief Accountant at the Ontario Securities Commission), and Allison McManus (Partner at KPMG and former IASB staff). After a short overview of the situation in Canada, panelists discussed in depth the IFRS 15 implementation issues and project management, including external communications.

Review the video recording and the slides from the AcSB's website.

The following papers will be presented and discussed. The first three papers also feature IASB discussants:

• Moving the Conceptual Framework Forward: Accounting for Uncertainty
• Assets and Liabilities: When do they Exist?
• Relative Effects of IFRS Adoption and IFRS Convergence on Financial Statement Comparability
• How Does Intrinsic Motivation Improve Auditor Judgment in Complex Audit Tasks?
• Relating Product Prices to Long-Run Marginal Cost: Evidence from Solar Photovoltaic Modules
• How Quickly Do Firms Adjust to Optimal Levels of Tax Avoidance?
• One Team or Two? Investigating Relationship Quality between Auditors and IT Specialists: Implications for Audit Team Identity and the Audit Process

All papers can be downloaded from the website of the Canadian Academic Accounting Association (CAAA). Also available is a webcast sponsored by the Canadian Accounting Standards Board (AcSB). Viewers around the world can access the research and discussions presented at the event. More information is here.

The main findings presented in the ASBJ report are:

• For all stock market indices analysed (Japan, United States, Australia, Europe), the total amount of goodwill and the amount of goodwill per company increased from 2005 to 2014.
• The stock market indices of the United States and Europe recognized larger amounts, both in the total amount of goodwill and the amount of goodwill per company, compared to the stock market indices of Japan and Australia.
• The stock market indices of the United States and Europe have consistently shown higher ratios of goodwill to net assets and of goodwill to market capitalization.
• In 2014, 32% of the companies recognizing goodwill in the United States and 25% of the companies recognizing goodwill in Europe had goodwill that exceeded 50% of their net assets. Furthermore, 14% of those companies in the Unites States and 11% of those companies in Europe had goodwill that exceeded 100% of their net assets. A few companies in the United States, Europe and Australia had goodwill that exceeded 100% of their market capitalization.
• In the United States and Europe, the market capitalization exceeded by a large portion the carrying amount of equity in the statement of financial position.
• Explicit time lags were not observed by analyzing the correlation between impairment and the price or points of the stock market index.
• Fully expensing goodwill judged by the data collected takes on average 82 years in the United States, 37 years in Europe, 9 years in Japan, and 34 years in Australia.

Please click to access the study and a corresponding press release on the ASBJ's website. The EFRAG's research report can be accessed here.

The main findings in Europe were (there is also a comparison with data from the US, Australia, and Japan):

• From 2005 to 2014, the total amount of goodwill recognized increased from 935 billion euros to 1.341 billion euros, representing an increase of 43%;
• A small number of companies account for a large share of the carrying amount of goodwill;
• The ratio goodwill to total assets has remained fairly stable over the years at approximately 3,7%. The ratio is significantly higher when entities in Financials industry are excluded but has been gradually decreasing since 2009;
• The ratio goodwill to net assets has been decreasing since 2008, but it was still significant in 2014 (29%);
• The amount of impairment losses recognized was at the highest level in 2008 and 2011, years when the performance of the financial markets was negative. On average, impairment losses represented 2,7% of the opening balance of goodwill;
• Impairment losses are significantly concentrated in a small number of companies, particularly in the Telecommunications and Financials indus­tries; and
• Absolute and relative levels of goodwill and impairment losses vary significantly across industries.

Please click to access the study and a corresponding press release on the EFRAG's Web site.

The proposal would amend the accounting and disclosure model for long-duration insurance contracts under US GAAP. The FASB believes that the proposal would improve the following aspects of the financial reporting for such contracts:

• Measurement of the liability for future policy benefits,
• Market risk benefits,
• Deferred acquisition costs, and
• Disclosures.

Specifically, the proposal aims to:

• Improve the timeliness of recognizing changes in the liability for future policy benefits by requiring that updated assumptions be used to measure the liability for future policy benefits (that is, that assumptions be ‘unlocked’) and modify the rate used to discount future cash flows.
• Simplify and improve the accounting for certain options or guarantees embedded in variable contracts.
• Simplify the amortization of deferred acquisition costs.
• Improve the effectiveness of the required disclosures.

These objectives are similar to those of the IASB's own project. Paragraphs BC87-BC89 of the proposed ASU explains the treatment of insurance contracts under IFRS. Issuance of IFRS 17, Insurance Contracts is currently expected in March 2017.

Comments on the proposed ASU are due by December 15, 2016. For more information, see the press release, proposed ASU, and FASB in Focus newsletter on the FASB’s Web site.

Mr. Hoogervorst noted that the top priorities for 2017 and beyond would of course include the completion of the remaining major projects: Conceptual Framework, where completion of redeliberations is expected by the end of the year, and insurance contracts, where the issuance of a final standard is currently expected in March 2017.

He also noted the overriding priority of "better communication" the IASB will be focusing on going forward and explained that this does not mean that the IASB intends to cut back the information provided, nor to dramatically increase it. Rather, this focus aims at better presentation of information, better grouping of information together, and additional consideration of the form information is made available. As projects and developments that are expected to contribute to better communication Mr. Hoogervorst mentioned primary financial statements, the disclosure initiative, digital reporting, and non-financial reporting.

Please note that the IASB is not intending to publish a transcript of Mr Hoogervorst's speech on its website.

Changes to the work plan include:

Major projects

• Insurance contracts: A final standard is now expected in March 2017

Implementation projects

• Disclosure initiative — Changes in accounting policies and estimates: Updated to indicate that the staff is currently drafting the ED
• IFRS 3 — Definition of a business and IFRS 3/IFRS 11 — Remeasurement of previously held interests: Updated to indicate that a decision on the direction of the joint projects is now expected within 6 months;
• IAS 21 — Foreign currency transactions and advance consideration: A final interpretation is now expected in December 2016
• IAS 40 — Transfers of investment property: Final amendments are now expected in December 2016
• IAS 12 — Accounting for uncertainties in income taxes: A final interpretation is now expected after 6 months;
• Annual Improvements (2014-2016): Final amendments are now expected in December 2016.

Research projects

• Disclosure initiative — Principles of disclosure: A discussion paper is now expected in December 2016;
• Primary financial statements: A decision on the project scope is expected within 3 months;
• IFRS 2 — Research project on share-based payments: A summary of the research results so far is expected within 3 months, there will be no further work on the project.

Post-implementation reviews

• A post-implementation review of IFRS 13, Fair Value Measurement has been initiated. A decision on the project direction is expected within 6 months.

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

In the article, Mr. Knachel observes that “some of the operational aspects of the new revenue standard seem to present the greatest challenge” and that “there is a significant amount of judgment around applying the new standard, and while similar facts should be followed by similar judgments; in practice, organizations may bump up against the notion that facts can be interpreted differently.”

While Mr. Chiriatti suggested that new guidance around contract modifications could affect whether a contract is considered new or modified. He mentions that there is a significant amount of judgment required around assessing the scope and pricing of work being added to a contract, and the resulting decision could impact revenue recognition patterns because new contracts are accounted for differently than modified ones, depending on several other factors.

Review the full article on the Wall Street Journal's website.

The following narrow-scope topics were brought to the FASB’s attention after the initial deliberations of the May 2016 proposed ASU:

• Loan guarantee fees.
• Contract asset versus receivables.
• Refund liabilities.
• Advertising costs.

Comments on the proposed ASU are due by October 4, 2016. For more information, see the proposed ASU on the FASB’s Web site.