October 2018 IASB meeting notes posted

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26 Oct, 2018

The IASB met on Wednesday 24 and Thursday 25 October 2018 to discuss eight topics. We have posted our comprehensive Deloitte observer notes for all projects discussed during the meeting.

For the Primary Financial Statements project, the focus was on the labels the Board will use to describe subtotals. The Board decided that the labels be operating profit or loss; operating profit or loss and share of profit or loss of integral associates and joint ventures; and profit or loss before financing and income tax (with entities being prohibited from using the term ‘EBIT’ for this subtotal).

The Board supported a recommendation by the IFRS Interpretations Committee that the IASB amend IAS 12 Income Taxes in relation to the initial recognition of a lease, by a lessee, and decommissioning obligations. 

The staff gave an oral update on the Management Commentary project, reporting on the first meeting of the Consultative Group supporting the project.

The Board decided to revise the Preface to International Financial Reporting Standards, removing redundant material on the structure of the IASB and its due process requirements.

For the Disclosure Initiative, the focus was on accounting policies. The Board decided to clarify that not all accounting policies relating to material transactions, other events or conditions are material. They also decided to develop guidance and examples for inclusion in the Materiality Practice Statement to help entities apply effective judgement when deciding whether accounting policies are material.

The Board discussed IFRS 17 Insurance Contracts, to help it determine how it should respond to concerns that have been brought to its attention regarding this Standard (the papers include a description of 25 identified concerns). The Board decided on the criteria to apply in assessing whether, in each case, it should propose an amendment to IFRS 17. The staff will bring the 25 items back to future meetings, assessed against those criteria.

The staff gave an update on the Rate-regulated Activities project.

The staff presented their proposed outline for a Discussion Paper on Goodwill and Impairment. The main sections would focus on improving disclosures, simplifying the impairment test, and simplifying the accounting for goodwill. The Board expressed concerns about the proposed timetable, which was for the DP to be published in the first half of 2020, and asked the staff to accelerate that process.

Please click to access the detailed notes taken by Deloitte observers for the entire meeting.

Correction list for hyphenation

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