September

Insurance contracts transition resource group releases meeting agenda

13 Sep, 2018

The IASB has released the agenda for IFRS 17 transition resource group (TRG) meeting on 26-27 September 2018.

The purpose of the TRG is to seek feedback on potential issues related to implementation of IFRS 17 Insurance Contracts. By analysing and discussing potential implementation issues, the TRG will help the IASB determine whether additional action is needed, such as providing clarification or issuing other guidance. This meeting will be the third meeting where technical matters will be discussed.

The agenda for the meeting is as follows:

Wednesday, 26 September 2018 (11:00-16:15)

  • Welcome and introductory remarks
  • Insurance risk consequent to an incurred claim
  • Determining discount rates using a top-down approach
  • Commissions and reinstatement premiums in reinsurance contracts issued
  • Premium experience adjustments related to current or past service
  • Cash flows that are outside the contract boundary at initial recognition

Thursday, 27 September 2018 (9:30-15:00)

  • Recovery of insurance acquisition cash flows
  • Premium waivers
  • Group insurance policies
  • Industry pools managed by an association
  • Annual cohorts for contracts that share in the return of a specified pool of underlying items
  • Reporting on other questions submitted
  • Administrative matters

Agenda papers for this meeting are available on the IASB's website.

2018 IFRS 'Annotated Red Book' coming in October

12 Sep, 2018

The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) has announced that the 2018 edition of the Annotated Issued IFRS Standards (the 'Annotated Red Book') is expected to be available in October.

The 'Annotated Red Book' contains all official pronouncements that have an effective date after 1 January 2018, refelecting changes not yet required. Copies will be priced at £105 each before discounts, plus shipping. More information is available on the IASB's register my interest webpage (link to IASB website).

Agenda for the October 2018 ASAF meeting

12 Sep, 2018

The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) has released an agenda for the meeting of the Accounting Standards Advisory Forum (ASAF), which is to be held at the IASB's offices in London on 4 October 2018.

The agenda for the meeting is summarised below:

Thursday, 4 October 2018 (9:00-17:00)

  • Financial instruments with characteristics of equity
    • Opportunity for ASAF members to share initial views and feedback on the Discussion Paper
  • IFRS 3 Business Combinations reference to the Conceptual Framework
    • Feedback on the outreach and next steps
  • Extended external reporting
    • NZASB research following two surveys undertaken
  • Rate-regulated activities
    • identifying a disclosure objective and related disclosure requirements for the accounting model being developed
  • Extractive activities
    • overview of how the IASB plans to start this research project
  • Project updates and agenda planning
  • Accounting policies and accounting estimates (Amendments to IAS 8)
    • Staff’s proposed course of action to respond to feedback received on the Exposure Draft

Agenda papers for the meeting are available on the IASB's website.

IASB concludes FICE DP webcast series

11 Sep, 2018

The IASB has released its sixth and final webcast in a series of web presentations related to the Discussion Paper 'Financial Instruments with Characteristics of Equity'.

This webcast discusses the Board’s preferred approach approach to the presentation of financial liabilities.

The press release on the IASB website offers access to the webcast and to the slides, which can be downloaded separately.

All six webcasts of the series are available on the IASB FICE project page.

Podcast summary of the September 2018 IFRS Advisory Council meeting

10 Sep, 2018

A podcast has been released summarising the discussion of several topics at the IFRS Advisory Council held in London on 4–5 September 2018.

The topics covered in the 10 minute podcast include:

  • the interplay between stakeholder engagement and timeliness and how to balance these with due process;
  • comment letters and whether a more flexible approach would encourage appropriate feedback from a wider range of stakeholders; and
  • the future of talent and how the Foundation can attract it in the future.

Please click to access the podcast on YouTube.

Paper on the satisfaction with existing segment disclosure requirements

10 Sep, 2018

The CFA Institute, a global association of investment professionals, has published 'Segment Disclosures: Investor Perspectives'. For the paper, the CFA Institute surveyed its members, including portfolio managers and analysts, regarding their level of satisfaction with existing segment disclosure requirements and solicited their views on areas for improvement as well as general perceptions about segment disclosures.

The survey results show that 75% of investors rate segment disclosures as very important to their analysis, but that only 13.4% are satisfied with the segment disclosures as currently provided. The survey therefore concludes that the implication for standard-setters is that there is substantial work to be done to meet segment disclosure investor needs.

The following additional results are also provided in the report:

  • 83.4% of respondents strongly agreed or agreed that segments should be disclosed as a critical audit matter.
  • 67.8% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that competitive harm is overstated as a reason not to improve segment disclosures.
  • 86.6% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that technological improvements should, but have not, substantially improved segment disclosures.
  • 72.7% of respondents agreed that regulators do not seem to enforce segment disclosure requirements effectively.
  • 61.8% of respondents indicated that the public discussion of results was not necessarily consistent with segment results.
  • 74.8% of respondents agreed that non-GAAP measures are not, but should be, reconciled to segment results.
  • 77.8% of respondents noted that segment disclosures are not always presented clearly and reconciled to the basic financial statements.
  • 82.4% stated that presentation by product/service or by region made comparative analysis more difficult.

Although the paper is more focused on US GAAP and Topic 280, the paper points at the similarity of the segment reporting requirements between US GAAP and IFRS and notes that a review of IFRS 8 Operating Segments should also be a project for the IASB.

Please click to access the full report on the CFA Institute website.

September 2018 IASB meeting agenda posted

07 Sep, 2018

The IASB has posted the agenda for its next meeting, which will be held at its offices in London on 19–20 September 2018. There are seven topics on the agenda.

The Board will discuss the following:

  • Dynamic risk management
    • Summary of discussions to date
    • Imperfect alignment
    • Change in risk management strategy
  • Implementation — Costs considered in assessing whether a contract is onerous (IAS 37)
  • Extractive activities
  • Research programme
  • Primary financial statements
    • Scope of proposals for subtotals in the statement of profit or loss
    • Unusual or infrequent items
    • Presentation of the results of integral and non-integral associates and joint ventures in the statement(s) of financial performance
    • Project proposal — Moving the project to the standard-setting programme
  • Classification of liabilities as current or non-current (amendments to IAS 1)
  • Disclosure initiative — Targeted standards-level review of disclosures

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

Deloitte readiness survey highlights complexities around implementing the new Leases standards

07 Sep, 2018

As Deloitte accompanies organisations in their new Leases standards implementation projects, we identified a need for organisations to share their many challenges and to understand those faced by others in their jurisdictions, regions and industries around the world. In response, Deloitte launched the Global IFRS 16 and ASC 842 readiness survey, which highlights the challenges and complexities facing organisations when implementing IFRS 16 and ASC 842 across the world.

Key findings of the survey are:

  • 52% of organisations anticipate a "material change" to their financial reporting
  • 67% of all organisations have not yet started or are on the impact assessment phase
  • 34% rate the determination of lease terms as highly complex
  • 86% of organisations are not considering early adoption
  • 43% have not yet determined their transition budgets
  • 74% of respondents do not currently have dedicated software systems for contracts
  • 61% of respondents are considering externally developed leasing systems
  • 38% of IFRS 16 respondents are considering the modified retrospective approach

Please click to access the full survey results.

Financial Executives International (FEI) has published an interview with Deloitte lead partner on the survey Laurence Rivat discussing the survey results and especially IT aspects around implementing the new standards.

Agenda and pre-meeting summaries available for the September 2018 IFRS Interpretations Committee meeting

06 Sep, 2018

The IFRS Interpretations Committee will meet in London on 11 and 12 September 2018 to discuss thirteen issues, including five new interpretation requests.

New Issues

There are five new issues. The Committee received submissions asking whether:

  • IFRS 15 Revenue from Contracts with Customers: whether fees for admitting an entity to a stock exchange and fees for an ongoing listing service are distinct or relate to only one service
  • IFRS 11 Joint Arrangements: how the operators in a joint operation should report a lease liability on a contract signed by the joint operation or signed only by a lead operator
  • IAS 38 Intangible Assets: whether, some, cloud computing arrangements create an intangible asset
  • IAS 27 Separate Financial Statements: when an entity loses control of a subsidiary as a result of disposing some of its interest, can the entity elect to measure the retained interest at FVOCI and can any gain or loss on initial disposal be presented in profit or loss
  • IAS 27 Separate Financial Statements: whether the cost of a subsidiary acquired in stages is the fair value of the tranches (as deemed cost) or the sum of the consideration actually paid

The staff are recommending that the Committee not take any of these new matters onto its agenda, and that it should issue tentative decisions to that effect.

Agenda Decisions to finalise

The Committee will consider the feedback on four tentative Agenda Decisions:

  • IAS 23 Borrowing Costs — Expenditure on a qualifying asset
  • IAS 23 Borrowing Costs — Borrowing costs on land
  • IAS 21 The Effects of Changes in Foreign Currency Exchange Rates — Determination of the exchange rate when there is a long term lack of exchangeability
  • IFRS 9 Financial Instruments — Classification of a particular type of dual currency bond

The staff are recommending that the Committee finalise all of the tentative Agenda Decisions.

Items for continuing consideration

Two matters have been carried forward from earlier meetings.

  • IAS 37 Provisions, Contingent Liabilities and Contingent Assets — Payments relating to taxes other than income tax. The staff are recommending that the Committee not take this matter onto its agenda, and that it should issue a tentative Agenda Decisions to that effect.
  • IFRS 9 Financial Instruments — Hedge accounting with load following swaps. A tentative Agenda Decision was issued in March 2018. In light of the comments received the staff are recommending that the Committee issue a revised tentative Agenda Decision (i.e. to provide an opportunity for additional feedback).

Advice from the Committee for the IASB

The Committee will discuss two topics for which the IASB has asked for feedback: Cryptocurrencies (including holdings of cryptocurrencies and initial coin offerings); and feedback on the proposed amendments to the definitions of accounting policies and estimates in IAS 8 Accounting Policies, Changes in Accounting Estimates and Errors.

Other work in progress

Possible revisions to IAS 21 The Effects of Changes in Foreign Exchange Rates to clarify the accounting when the spot rate is not observable is not being discussed at this meeting. Three additional requests have been received, and are being analysed. They relate to IFRS 9 Financial Instruments and the physical settlement of a contract to buy or sell a non-financial item; IFRS 11 Joint Arrangements when there is a difference between a joint operator's entitlement to output and the amount they have actually received; and IAS 23 Borrowing Costs and the capitalisation of borrowing costs on assets being developed for sale for which revenue is recognised over time.

The full agenda for the meeting and our pre-meeting summaries can be found here. We will update this page for any changes to the agenda and our Deloitte observer notes from the meeting as they become available.

Summary of the July 2018 ASAF meeting now available

04 Sep, 2018

The staff of the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) have made available a summary of the discussions of the Accounting Standards Advisory Forum (ASAF) meeting held in London on 9 and 10 July 2018.

The topics covered during the meeting were the following (numbers in brackets are references to the corresponding paragraphs of the summary):

  • Financial instruments with characteristics of equity (1–6): The IASB staff provided an education session for ASAF members on the Discussion Paper Financial Instruments with Characteristics of Equity issued in June 2018.
  • Business combinations under common control (7–25): ASAF members discussed (1) discuss the results of a joint investor survey conducted by the HKICPA and OIC as well as (2) measurement approaches developed by the staff for transactions within the scope of the Board’s BCUCC project.
  • Better communication (26–41): ASAF members gave feedback (1) on moving the primary financial statements project from the research agenda to the standard-setting agenda and (2) on the AcSB’s draft framework for reporting performance measures.
  • Property, Plant and Equipment – Proceeds before intended use (42–48): ASAF members were asked for advice on the possible ways forward regarding ED and the project in general.
  • Goodwill and impairment (49–68): ASAF members (1) offered their views about disclosures that the Board tentatively decided to consider and additional possible disclosures the staff are considering to improve disclosure requirements for business combinations, goodwill and impairment and (2) were asked whether they have any suggestions or ideas for other possible disclosures that can provide better and timely information without imposing costs that exceed the benefits.
  • Better communication (continued) (69–77): The ASAF members provided advice on (1) the Board's process for developing and drafting guidance for the Board regarding disclosure objectives and requirements and (2) which standards the Board should select for review.
  • Accounting for pensions (78–91): ASAF members discussed a proposal that the IASB consider hybrid pension plans either as another dimension of the research pipeline project or a project in itself.
  • Project updates and agenda planning (92–95): ASAF members discussed the proposed agenda for the October 2018 ASAF meeting.

A full summary of the meeting is available on the IASB's website.

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