The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) regulates entities that hold client assets and rules around their safeguarding are contained in the FCA’s Client Assets Sourcebook (CASS). The CASS requires those firms that hold client assets to hold them separately from their own to minimise the risks of loss to their clients in the event of insolvency.

Where an entity holds client assets the FCA’s Supervisory Manual (SUP rules) require the CASS auditor, annually, to provide a Reasonable Assurance Client Assets Report and to report, among other things, on whether the entity has adequate systems in place to safeguard their client assets. Where an investment business claims not to hold client assets, a Limited Assurance Report is required.

The Standard Providing Assurance on Client Assets to the Financial Conduct Authority aims to improve the quality of CASS audits and other CASS assurance engagements and to support auditors when undertaking these type of engagements. It is also intended to support the effective training of CASS auditors by both the accounting bodies and other training organisations in line with the FCA’s recent strengthening of its client asset regime.

The new Standard establishes requirements in respect to:

• The process for forming, and the expression of, reasonable assurance opinions; 
• The process for forming, and the expression of, limited assurance opinions;
• The provision of reasonable assurance to the FCA with respect to a firm’s proposed adoption of the alternative approach to client money segregation and a non-standard method of client money reconciliation; and
• CASS auditor confirmations in respect of non-statutory client money trusts.

The new Standard will be effective for reports to the FCA with respect to client assets covering periods commencing on or after 1 January 2016, with early adoption permitted.

The press release and Standard are available on the FRC website.

The finalised perliminary views only differ slightly from the position published in July. These changes concern the position on stewardship and on users of general purpose financial statements. EFRAG has published a document explaning the changed position, which can be downloaded from the EFRAG website.

Given it took EFRAG four months to finilase its preliminary views after publishing the first consultation document, the deadline for submitting comments on EFRAG's final preliminary position is now very short. Comments are requested by 18 November 2015. Please click for the press release on the EFRAG website.

The most sig­nif­i­cant items on the agenda include:

• Insurance contracts — Similarities and differences between the general measurement model and the variable fee approach for insurance contracts as well as three narrow issues arising from the variable fee approach will be considered.
• Goodwill and impairment — Identification and measurement of intangible assets in a business combination will be discussed.

In addition, the IASB will discuss fair value measurements, post-employment benefits, IFRS implementation issues, and the research project on share-based payment.

The full agenda for the meeting can be found here. We will post any updates to the agenda, as well as our Deloitte observer notes from the meeting, on this page as they become available.

Speakers from the IASB will present on the agenda consultation and on the conceptual framework project; speakers from ICAS will then give their views on these projects and will present the results of new research, jointly funded by ICAS and EFRAG, on professional investors’ views of the decision-usefulness of financial reporting.

Topics to be discussed include:

• Has the IASB correctly identified the right issues for the future?
• Is there anything missing from the agenda?
• Have the IASB struck the right balance between fundamental improvements to IFRS versus fine tuning the standards to keep them fit for purpose?
• Can financial reporting be considered in isolation from wider corporate reporting initiatives?
• How will the revised Conceptual Framework drive changes in future?
• How can research help to shape the future of financial reporting?

Please click for more information and registration on the ICAS website.

The IASB issued ED/2015/5 Remeasurement on a Plan Amendment, Curtailment or Settlement/Availability of a Refund from a Defined Benefit Plan (Proposed amendments to IAS 19 and IFRIC 14) on 18 June 2015.  This exposure draft proposes amending these pronouncements to clarify:

In particular, the Board will be discussion the issue of the application of IFRS 9 by insurance companies and the IASB's proposed deferral of the Standard's effective date for such entities.

The call will take place from 16.30 to 18.00 Central European Time and will be open for duly registered observers.

Further details about the event, including how to register, can be found on the EFRAG website.

In his speech, Mr Golden discussed the important role high-quality financial reporting has within capital markets around the world and noted that high-quality accounting standards should “promote truth-telling in financial reporting”.

Mr Mackintosh presented on major trends and challenges towards high-quality corporate reporting and focused on the IASB's mission and the future agenda of the IASB.

Michael Stewart, Director of Implementation Activities at the IASB, explained how principle-based standards support consistent application across diverse facts and circumstances and how the IASB Education Initiative promotes IFRS judgement capacity-building by developing cohesive IFRS understanding and capacity to make, audit, regulate, and analyse IFRS judgements.

Please click for direct access to these speeches on the UNCTAD website:

• Mr Golden's keynote address
• Mr Mackintosh's presentation
• Mr Stewart's presentation

All presentations given at the meeting (including presentations from representatives of the PIOB, IFAC, IAASB, Basel Committee, FSB, World Bank, IIRC, CDSB) can be accessed through this website.

FRED 62 proposes to amend paragraphs 34.22 and 34.42 of FRS 102 to require disclosure of financial instruments held at fair value on the basis of a fair value hierarchy consistent with EU-adopted IFRS as follows:

A fair value measurement is categorised in its entirety on the basis of the lowest level input that is significant to the fair value measurement in its entirety.

Level 1: The unadjusted quoted price in an active market for identical assets or liabilities that the entity can access at the measurement date.

Level 2: Inputs other than quoted prices included within Level 1 that are observable (ie developed using market data) for the asset or liability, either directly or indirectly.

Level 3: Inputs are unobservable (ie for which market data is unavailable) for the asset or liability.

When finalised, these amendments are proposed to apply for accounting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2017. Early application will be permitted. Comments on FRED 62 are invited by 31 January 2016.

The press release and FRED 62 are available on the FRC website.

The ITG was created to keep the IASB informed on issues occurring during implementation of the new impairment requirements in IFRS 9 Financial Instruments, to assist in determining what action may be needed to resolve diversity in practice and to provide a public forum for stakeholders to learn about the new impairment requirements from others involved with implementation.

The agenda for the meeting is as follows:

Agenda papers are available on the ITG December meeting page on the IASB's website.