The 16-page list, maintained by former Board member Paul Pacter, includes learning resources available from the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) and the IFRS Foundation, international audit firms, professional bodies and regulators. The list also includes recent IFRS textbooks and histories.

We are proud that the IASB acknowledges UK Accounting Plus as an important resource and especially notes these aspects:

• Free of charge
• Daily news about IFRSs
• Summaries of Standards and Interpretations
• Summaries of IASB and IFRIC Agenda Projects
• Deloitte IFRS publications
• Information about IASB history and structure
• IASB meeting information
• IFRS model financial statements and presentation and disclosure checklists
• Use of IFRSs by jurisdiction
• Comparisons of IFRSs and national GAAPs
• Available in different languages

Please click to access the full list of resources on the IASB website.

In the draft comment letter on the November 2015 proposals, EFRAG acknowledges that it is important to continue to develop and maintain an IFRS Taxonomy in order to control the quality of the taxonomy and the use of the 'IFRS' brand name. EFRAG clearly supports the IFRS Foundation’s goal of having the IFRS Taxonomy recognised as the globally agreed standard for tagging and structuring IFRS financial information within a digital report.

However, EFRAG is worried that the proposed amendments might give the IFRS Taxonomy too much prominence in the IASB's activities and also feels that the proposed involvement of IASB members in approving the taxonomy content might lead to the taxonomy actually driving the disclosure requirements in standards, which would mean the IASB would move away its principles-based approach. EFRAG also warns against additional tasks for Board members as these could only come at the cost of spending less time on the tasks they already have.

Comments are requested by 30 January 2016. For more information, see the press release and the draft comment letter on the EFRAG website.

The conference is aimed at academics, investors, business people, practicing accountants, standard- setters and regulators.

The event will comprise of various presentations after which attendees will be invited to join the panel discussion.

Further details as well as registration details are available on the ICAEW website.

The comment letter refers to the IFRS IC’s tentative agenda decision not to add to its agenda the discussion of various application issues relating to the requirements of IFRS 5 Non-current Assets Held for Sale and Discontinued Operations.

ESMA believes that these application issues "potentially impair the relevance, comparability and understandability of financial statements" and "strongly encourages" the IFRS IC to recommend that the IASB undertake a fundamental review of the existing standard either in the form of a research project or a post-implementation review.

The IFRS 5 comment letter can be found on the ESMA website.

An agenda with supporting papers and details on how to register can be found on the EFRAG website.

The Update reports on EFRAG Board conference calls on 9 and 24 November, the EFRAG Technical Expert Group (EFRAG TEG) conference call on 19 November and the EFRAG TEG meeting on 4-5 November.  The Update also lists EFRAG publications issued in November:

• EFRAG’s feedback statement following the publication of the final comment letter on the IASB´s Exposure Draft 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).
• EFRAG’s final comment letter on ED/2015/6 Clarifications to IFRS 15.
• EFRAG’s final comment letter on 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).
• EFRAG’s draft comment letter in response to the IASB's Exposure Draft ED/2015/8 IFRS Practice Statement: Application of Materiality to Financial Statements.
• EFRAG’s draft comment letter in response to the Draft IFRIC Interpretation DI/2015/1 Uncertainty over Income Tax Treatments.
• EFRAG’s draft comment letter on the IASB's Draft Interpretation Foreign Currency Transactions and Advance Consideration.
• EFRAG’s draft letter to the European Commission to seek constituents' views on the preliminary analysis conducted by EFRAG on the amendments to IFRS 4 Insurance Contracts.
• EFRAG’ preliminary views on ED/2015/3 Conceptual Framework for Financial Reporting
• EFRAG’s feedback statement in relation to the joint outreach event held in Paris, on the IASB Exposure Draft ED 2015/3 Conceptual Framework for Financial Reporting, in conjunction with the Autorité des Normes Comptables (ANC).
• EFRAG’s feedback statement in relation to the joint outreach event held in Amsterdam, on the IASB Exposure Draft ED 2015/3 Conceptual Framework for Financial Reporting, in conjunction with the Dutch Accounting Standards Board.
• EFRAG’s feedback statement in relation to the joint outreach event held in Helsinki, on the IASB Exposure Draft ED 2015/3 Conceptual Framework for Financial Reporting, in conjunction with the Financial Supervisory Authority of Finland, the Ministry of Employment and the Economy, and the Confederation of Finnish Industries.

Please click to download the November EFRAG Update from the EFRAG website.

On 11 August 2015, the IASB launched its second public consultation to seek broad public input on the strategic direction and overall balance of its future work programme.

In its comment letter, the ESMA believes that the main priorities for the IASB in the early period covered by the Agenda Consultation should be (1) completing the insurance contract standard and (2) revising its conceptual framework.

While ESMA “agrees with the factors identified for prioritisation” in the IASB’s work programme it recommends that the IASB identifies “an underlying theme for the Agenda Consultation that would be linked to the IASB’s Strategy Overview”.  ESMA suggests that the IASB directs its focus on “strengthening the fundamental pillars of the financial reporting”.    

ESMA also highlights the importance of the maintenance and implementation projects “in order to facilitate consistent application of IFRS and ensure sufficient level of investor protection” and suggests that the IASB should “strike the right balance between the need to provide timely guidance to application issues identified in practice”.  It also comments on the importance of post implementation reviews (PIRs), suggests that “the overall standard setting process does not properly consider” the role of these and indicates that the IASB should, where relevant “act on the findings of a PIR on a timely basis when developing its standard-setting agenda without the need of delaying the process by waiting for the results of subsequent Agenda Consultation(s)”.

The full comment letter is available on the ESMA website.

Commission Regulation (EC) No 2015/2231 of 2 December 2015 amending Regulation (EC) No 1126/2008 adopting certain international accounting standards in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 1606/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council published in the Official Journal on 3 December 2015 adopts Clarification of Acceptable Methods of Depreciation and Amortisation (Amendments to IAS 16 and IAS 38) issued by the IASB in May 2014. The EU effective date is the same as the IASB's effective date (annual periods beginning on or after 1 January 2016 with earlier appication permitted).

EFRAG has updated its endorsement status report to reflect that the European Union has adopted these amenments

The hearing featured an introduction by the ECON Chair Roberto Gualtieri followed by short presentations by the invited experts:

• Andreas Barckow, President of the Accounting Standards Committee of Germany (ASCG)
• Nicolas Véron, Bruegel and Peterson Institute
• Andreas Haaker, German Cooperative and Raiffeisen Confederation (DGRV)
• Mike Ashley, Vice-Chair of EFRAG TEG and Chairman of Financial Instruments Working Group

The presentations were followed by a joint discussion with ECON members, which focused on the following issues:

• divergence between IASB and FASB on the new impairment model,
• different effective dates of IFRS 9 and the new standard on insurance and overlay vs. deferral approach,
• differences between IAS 39 and IFRS 9 and comments on fair value accounting in general,
• 12-month expected credit losses,
• principles-/rules-based accounting and the question of judgement,
• complexity,
• impact analyses at EFRAG and the IASB, and
• whether the differences between IAS 39 and IFRS 9 are improvements or whether IAS 39 should be retained and IFRS 9 not endorsed.

Opening the session, the ECON Chair as well as the Chair of the IFRS Permanent Team of ECON had stated that they had received overwhelming support by virtually all stakeholders arguing for a swift endorsement. During the presentations and the discussion it turned out that three of the experts were of the same opinion while only one expert expressed doubt (of IFRS reporting in general).

Please click for the following additional information on the European Parliament website:

• Presentation by Mr Barckow
• Presentation by Mr Véron
• Presentation by Mr Haaker
• Presentation by Mr Ashley
• Recording of the public hearing (please be aware that you can change the language to all official languages of the European Union)

A number of FTSE 350 companies will be contacted prior to their year-end informing them that the FRC’s Corporate Reporting Review Team will review the tax disclosures in their next published reports.  The FRC highlights that the aim of its monitoring activity “is to drive continuous improvements in the quality of corporate reporting”.

The FRC will place a particular focus on:

• the transparency of tax reconciliation disclosures and how well the sustainability of the effective tax rate is conveyed; and
• uncertainties relating to tax liabilities (and assets) where the value at risk in the short term is not identified.

The FRC indicate that its review “will consider the totality of the companies’ reporting including relevant disclosures in the strategic and other narrative reports as well as the detailed accounting disclosures”.

The press release is available on the FRC website.