The staff brought the Insurance Contracts project back to the Board to discuss the findings from the external editorial review of a draft of IFRS 17 Insurance Contracts. The staff proposed some drafting changes to address matters identified in the review. The most significant changes proposed relate to changes to the carrying amount of the contractual service margin and introducing a narrow exemption to the requirements to group insurance contracts when a regulation or law constrains an entity from fully pricing the insurance risks transferred based on the characteristics of each policy holder. The IASB supported all of the proposed changes and will continue to finalise the new Standard. It is expected to be published in the first half of this year.
In January 2017 the Board decided to develop an exposure draft to amend IFRS 9 Financial Instruments in relation to symmetric prepayment options, to allow instruments with a prepayment options to qualify for amortised cost measurement. Having discussed the urgency of the amendment with the Due Process Oversight Committee the IASB approved a 30 day comment period with the goal of finalising the amendment so that it can have an effective date of 1 January 2018. The ED is expected to be published at the end of April.
The discussions on the Conceptual Framework project are entering the final stages. The papers for this meeting relate mostly to housekeeping matters: whether the appendix on ‘cash-flow-based measurement techniques’ should be retained; a review of existing Standards for potential inconsistencies with the revised CF, the effects of the revised CF; and minor comments on concepts supporting asset and liability definitions and due process. The IASB unanimously supported the finalisation of the revised Framework.
The paper on financial instruments with the characteristics of equity explore whether rights and obligations arising from non-contractual terms (e.g. those arising from law) should be taken into account when classifying a financial instrument as equity. The Board discussed mandatory tender offers and bonds that are contingently convertible to ordinary shares as a result of regulatory requirements.
The IASB discussed an analysis of the proposed new accounting model for rate-regulated activities that was discussed in the December 2016 Board meeting. The papers look at the general approach of the model, the scope and the recognition of regulatory assets and regulatory liabilities.
The Board discussed two issues relating to IFRS 9 Financial Instruments that have come from the Interpretations Committee and the Transitional Resource Group for Impairment of Financial Instruments. In both cases the IASB decided not to amend or interpret IFRS 9.
The staff updated the Board on the project to amend the definition of a business in IFRS 3 Business Combinations. They also formalised the steps for publishing a request for views as part of the post-implementation review of IFRS 13 Fair Value. And there was a brief update on the Research Programme.
Please click to access the detailed notes taken by Deloitte observers for the entire meeting.