News

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PCAOB Issues Proposal to Increase Auditor Vigilance Against Fraud and Other Forms of Noncompliance with Laws and Regulations

Jun 07, 2023

On June 7, 2023, the PCAOB issued for public comment, a proposal that would “strengthen auditor requirements to identify, evaluate, and communicate noncompliance with laws and regulations.”

The proposal would, among other things, “establish specific requirements for auditors to understand management’s processes regarding compliance with laws and regulations, which can provide insight into the company’s control environment, and to identify, through inquiry and other procedures, laws and regulations applicable to the company with which noncompliance could reasonably have a material effect on the financial statements.” Comments on the proposal are due by August 7, 2023.

Re­view the press release on PCAOB’s website and our project summary.

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Consultation on reforming and modernizing domestic transfer pricing rules

Jun 06, 2023

On June 6, 2023, Canada's Department of Finance issued a much-anticipated consultation paper to gather stakeholder input on a range of questions and proposals related to Canada’s transfer pricing legislation. The deadline for stakeholders to provide their submissions is July 28, 2023.

The main legislative changes contained within the consultation paper concern amendments to the transfer pricing adjustment rule set out in section 247 of the Income Tax Act. These proposed amendments aim to align the transfer pricing adjustment rule in section 247 of the act with the guidance provided by the OECD in the latest version of its report on the general application of the arm’s length principle: Transfer Pricing Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises and Tax Administrations.

Re­view the consultation paper on the Canada’s Department of Finance Website.

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Canadian securities regulators defer launch of new SEDAR+ filing system

Jun 01, 2023

On June 1, 2023, the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) issued an update about SEDAR+, the new system that will be used by all market participants to file, disclose and search for issuer information in Canada’s capital markets, which had a planned launch date of June 13, 2023. The CSA now intends to launch SEDAR+ on July 25, 2023, with a contingency date in September.

The CSA assured that the SEDAR+ system itself is functioning well. However, the process of assuring quality migration of large volumes of data from multiple legacy systems is taking longer than planned. The SEDAR+ project leadership team has added an additional six weeks to the project timeline to ensure that the data migration meets the CSA’s strict quality control standards.

If work on the data migration is not complete in time for the July launch, the CSA has also set September 12, 2023, as a contingency date. To assist filing organizations with planning for SEDAR+, the CSA will confirm the SEDAR+ go-live date by the end of June.

Until SEDAR+ goes live, all capital market participants are required to continue using SEDAR and the other systems in current use.

Re­view news release on CSA's website.

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Updated IASB and ISSB work plan — Analysis (May 2023)

Jun 01, 2023

Following the IASB's and ISSB's May 2023 meetings, we have analysed the work plan on the IFRS Foundation website to see what changes have resulted from the meetings and other developments since the work plan was last revised in April 2023. The updates to the work plan include a new policy that all next project milestones are presented with an expected date, at a minimum the year when the next milestone is expected to be reached.

Below is an analysis of all changes made to the work plan since our last analysis on May 2, 2023.

Standard-setting projects

Maintenance projects

Research projects

Strategy and Governance projects

Other projects

The above is a faithful comparison of the IASB and ISSB work plan on May 2, 2023, and June 1, 2023.

For access to the current work plan at any time, please click here.

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IBA and IFAC announce Memorandum of Understanding between global bodies for the legal and accounting professions

May 31, 2023

On May 31, 2023, the International Bar Association (IBA) and the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) have announced a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that formalizes and demonstrates a commitment to closer cooperation between the two organizations and the legal and accountancy professions.

This MoU provides a framework for expanding the cooperation between the IBA and IFAC, with a particular focus on anti-corruption and how the professions can work more closely together in the fight against money-laundering and economic crime., with key stakeholders such as the United Nations and Financial Action Task Force. Other areas of cooperation include maintaining the reputations and integrity of the accountancy and legal professions; ensuring that initiatives to regulate both professions are proportionate and fit-for-purpose; and enhancing the strength of the IBA and IFAC’s collective voice on global policy issues so that the legal and accountancy professions are in the best position to serve the public interest.

Access the news release on the IFAC website.

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Parliament Passes Bill S-211: The New Forced Labour and Supply Chain Reporting Law

May 30, 2023

On May 3, 2023, the Canadian Parliament passed Bill S-211, An Act to enact the Fighting Against Forced Labour and Child Labour in Supply Chains Act and to amend the Customs Tariff (Act). The Act is expected to receive royal assent shortly and will take effect on January 1, 2024, imposing significant reporting obligations on Canadian businesses and importers.

Reporting obligations will apply to any private-sector entity (defined below) that is: (i) producing, selling or distributing goods in Canada or elsewhere; (ii) importing into Canada goods produced outside Canada, or (iii) controlling an entity engaged in either of the above activities.

An "entity" is defined as a corporation or a trust, partnership or other unincorporated organization that: (i) Is listed on a stock exchange in Canada; (ii) has a place of business in Canada, does business in Canada or has assets in Canada and, based on its consolidated financial statements, has met at least two of the following three conditions in at least one of its last two financial years: (a) had at least C$20-million in assets; (b) generated at least C$40-million in revenue; (c) employed an average of at least 250 employees, or (iv) Is prescribed by regulations (although no such regulations have yet been promulgated)

Reporting obligations will also apply to all federal government institutions, ministries and departments, including Crown corporations and wholly owned subsidiaries, that are producing, purchasing or distributing goods in Canada or elsewhere.

The first report will be required to be filed on or before May 31, 2024.

Re­view the article on Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP's website and the Act on the Parliament of Canada website.

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IASB publishes second request for information on the post-implementation review of IFRS 9

May 30, 2023

On May 30, 2023, the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) has issued a request for information (RFI) seeking comments from stakeholders to identify whether the impairment requirements in IFRS 9, Financial Instruments, provide information that is useful to users of financial statements; whether there are requirements that are difficult to implement and may prevent the consistent implementation of the standard; and whether unexpected costs have arisen in connection with applying or enforcing the standard.

The IASB has decided that while reviewing IFRS 9 in its entirety, it will do so in three parts:

  • In 2022, the IASB completed its review of the classification and measurement requirements, concluding that these requirements are working as intended.
  • With the request for information published today, the IASB is seeking feedback on the impairment requirements.
  • The IASB will seek feedback separately on the hedge accounting requirements.

After discussing feedback from outreach, the Board decided in February 2023 to examine further:

  • the general approach to recognition of expected credit losses (ECL),
  • significant increases in credit risk,
  • the measurement of ECL,
  • the prevalence of particular questions from entities on how to apply the ECL requirements to purchased or originated credit-impaired financial assets,
  • the simplified approach to recognition of ECL for trade receivables, contract assets and lease receivables,
  • the accounting for loan commitments, collateral and other credit enhancements held, and issued financial guarantee contracts that are in scope of IFRS 9,
  • the application of the ECL requirements alongside other requirements in IFRS 9 or in other IFRS Accounting Standards,
  • the effects of transition reliefs provided by the IASB and the balance between reducing costs for preparers of financial statements and providing useful information to users of financial statements,
  • and the disclosure requirements for credit risk in IFRS 7.

Comments on the RFI are requested by September 27, 2023.

Review the press release and the Request for Information on the IASB website.

 

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IASB issues podcast on latest Board developments (May 2023)

May 30, 2023

On May 30, 2023, the International Accounting Standards Board has released a podcast featuring IASB Chair Andreas Barckow and Executive Technical Director Nili Shah discussing deliberations at the May 2023 IASB meetings.

Highlights of the podcast include discussions on:

  • Supplementary meeting on proposed amendments to the IFRS for SMEs Accounting Standard on international tax reform.
  • Decisions and developments related to the projects on primary financial statements, disclosure initiative — subsidiaries without public accountability: disclosures, dynamic risk management, business combinations — disclosures, goodwill and impairment, and management commentary.

Access the podcast on the IASB website.

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IASB publishes amendments to IAS 7 and IFRS 7 regarding supplier finance arrangements

May 25, 2023

On May 25, 2023, the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) has published 'Supplier Finance Arrangements (Amendments to IAS 7 and IFRS 7)' to add disclosure requirements, and ‘signposts’ within existing disclosure requirements, that ask entities to provide qualitative and quantitative information about supplier finance arrangements.

Background

The IFRS Interpretations Committee received a submission about supply chain finance arrangements asking:

  • How an entity presents liabilities to pay for goods or services received when the related invoices are part of a supply chain finance (or reverse factoring) arrangement; and
  • what information about reverse factoring arrangements an entity is required to disclose in its financial statements.

In response to that submission, the Committee published an agenda decision in December 2020. However, feedback and input received — in particular from investors and analysts — suggested the information entities provide about supplier finance arrangements applying existing IFRS requirements does not meet all investor information needs.

In response to that feedback, the Board decided to amend IAS 7, Statement of Cash Flows, and IFRS 7, Financial Instruments: Disclosures to add disclosure requirements, and ‘signposts’ within existing disclosure requirements, that ask entities to provide qualitative and quantitative information about supplier finance arrangements.

Key changes

The amendments in Supplier Finance Arrangements (Proposed amendments to IAS 7 and IFRS 7)

  • Do not define supplier finance arrangements. Instead, the amendments describe the characteristics of an arrangement for which an entity is required to provide the information. The amendments note that arrangements that are solely credit enhancements for the entity or instruments used by the entity to settle directly with a supplier the amounts owed are not supplier finance arrangements.
  • Add two disclosure objectivesEntities will have to disclose in the notes information that enables users of financial statements
    • to assess how supplier finance arrangements affect an entity’s liabilities and cash flows and
    • to understand the effect of supplier finance arrangements on an entity’s exposure to liquidity risk and how the entity might be affected if the arrangements were no longer available to it.
  • Complement current requirements in IFRSs by adding to IAS 7 additional disclosure requirements about:
    • the terms and conditions of the supplier finance arrangements;
    • for the arrangements, as at the beginning and end of the reporting period:
      • a) the carrying amounts of financial liabilities that are part of the arrangement and the associated line item presented;
      • b) the carrying amount of financial liabilities disclosed under a) for which suppliers have already received payment from the finance providers;
      • c) the range of payment due dates (for example, 30 to 40 days after the invoice date) of financial liabilities disclosed under a) and comparable trade payables that are not part of a supplier finance arrangement; and
    • the type and effect of non-cash changes in the carrying amounts of the financial liabilities that are part of the arrangement.

The IASB decided that, in most cases, aggregated information about an entity’s supplier finance arrangements will satisfy the information needs of users of financial statements.

  • Add supplier finance arrangements as an example within the liquidity risk disclosure requirements in IFRS 7.

Effective date and transition

An entity applies the amendments to IAS 7 for annual reporting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2024 (with earlier application permitted) and the amendments to IFRS 7 when it applies the amendments to IAS 7. There is a certain amount of transition relief provided, including relief regarding comparative information and interim period information.

Review the press release on the IASB website.

 

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IAASB Digital Technology Market Scan: Internet of Things

May 24, 2023

On May 24, 2023, the IAASB released a Digital Technology market scan exploring the Internet of Things Tecnology, focusing on Networks for Asset Monitoring and Data Generation, a technology that enables real time tracking, managing and monitoring of business processes and assets.

Topics covered include:

  • What is the Internet of Things? Why is it important?
  • The latest developments
  • What this might mean for the IAASB

Access the market scan on the IAASB website.

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