March

IASB issues 'Investor Update' newsletter

02 Mar, 2018

The IASB has issued the fifteenth edition of its newsletter 'Investor Update', which provides investors with quick access to information about current accounting and financial reporting topics.

This issue features:

  • Spotlight — Timing and amount of revenue recognition
  • IFRS 15 In Profile
  • Project updates
  • Information on investor materials and current events

The Investor Update newsletter is available on the IASB’s website.

EFRAG publishes February 2018 issue of 'EFRAG Update'

01 Mar, 2018

The European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG) has published an 'EFRAG Update' summarising due process publications, public technical discussions held and decisions made during February 2018

The Update reports on the EFRAG Board meeting on 6 February 2018 and the EFRAG Board conference call on 19 February 2018. 

The update also lists EFRAG publications in February 2018:

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

EFRAG publishes discussion paper on the impairment and recycling of equity instruments

01 Mar, 2018

The European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG) has published a discussion paper 'Equity Instruments - Impairment and Recycling' to gather constituents' views on recycling and impairment of equity instruments designated at fair value through other comprehensive income to develop its technical advice to the European Commission.

In the first phase of the project, the European Commission asked EFRAG to collect quantitative data on the current holdings of equity instruments and their accounting treatment and investigate if entities expect that the new accounting requirements will affect their decisions in relation to investment in equity instruments. EFRAG reported its findings from this first phase in January 2018.

In the second phase of the project, the Commission asked EFRAG to provide advice on whether and how the requirements in IFRS 9 on accounting for holdings of equity instruments could be improved. As part of its due process, EFRAG has now published the discussion paper to gather constituents' views on recycling and impairment of equity instruments designated at fair value through other comprehensive income.

EFRAG has not included a preliminary view on the issues explored. Rather, the paper analyses the relevance of recycling in the context of a long-term investment business model and presents arguments on the conceptual relationship between recycling gains and losses on derecognition and impairment. The paper considers how the application problems identified with IAS 39's impairment model for available-for-sale equity instruments could be addressed. It illustrates an impairment model and a revaluation model but does not express a preliminary view as to which, if either, of these two models is preferable.

​Comments on the discussion paper are expected by 25 May 2018. It can be downloaded from the EFRAG website.

Recent sustainability and integrated reporting developments

01 Mar, 2018

A summary of recent developments at the IIRC, WBCSD/CDSB, and the Reporting Exchange.

The International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) has released the results of a survey of executives from across the globe that seeks to understand trends and challenges in measuring, disclosing and understanding the value that companies create. 96% of those surveyed agree that bringing financial and non-financial information together provides a more forward-looking, longer-term view of performance. Purpose Beyond Profit: The Value of Value – Board-level Insights is available on the IIRC website.

The IIRC also intends to set up an oversight body for its <IR> Academic Network and is, therefore, seeking a small consortium of academic institutions to manage the Network’s strategy, plans and progress. The tender offer can be accessed here.

The World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) and the Climate Disclosure Standards Board (CDSB) have released a new report that maps global and regional environmental, social and governance (ESG) reporting trends. The report that is intended to help business navigate global sustainability reporting trends is available on the CDSB website.

The WBCSD and the CDSB have also published a case study that sheds light on the corporate reporting requirements and resources across China. With new legislation on mandatory environmental disclosure being developed in China, the case study provides an important baseline to understand how the reporting landscape will evolve in the next few years, and how Chinese businesses will embrace the latest developments in mainstream sustainability reporting. The case study is available on the CDSB website.

The WBCSD also announces that the Reporting Exchange is now also available in simplified Chinese. To date, the platform includes over 1780 reporting provisions from 60 countries and continues to grow. The Chinese language version of the Reporting Exchange can be accessed by using the language selector in the top right hand corner.

 

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