As regards the proposed annual improvements, we agree with the proposed amendments to IFRS 9, IFRS 16, and IAS 41, however, we do not believe that the proposed amendment to IFRS 1 should be a requirement - we believe it should be an option. Our full comment letter is available here.

As regards the proposed amendments to IFRS 3, we agree with the proposed amendments to IFRS 3 to replace a reference to an old version of the Conceptual Framework. We also agree with the proposed addition of an exception for the recognition principles in IFRS 3 with respect to liabilities and contingent liabilities in the scope of IAS 37 and of IFRIC 21 and of the clarification of the IFRS 3 requirements for contingent assets. However, we believe that an exception to the recognition principles in IFRS 3 is also required with respect to uncertain current tax positions within the scope of IFRIC 23. Our full comment letter is available here.

This roundtable is targeted at constituents that have a good understanding of the proposals and would like to share their views during the debate. The FRC has published a staff draft of its response to the IASB’s Exposure Draft ED/2019/4 Amendments to IFRS 17 which will be discussed at the roundtable debate.

Further details, including registration, are available on the FRC website.

The draft response outlines the FRC staff’s tentative conclusions on issues raised in the IASB's exposure draft. Although the FRC agrees with the majority of the proposals in the exposure draft, it raises some concerns regarding proposals to address accounting mismatches between reinsurance contracts held and onerous underlying insurance contracts. The FRC also highlights some practical challenges of implementing the annual cohort requirement, especially for contracts that share risk.

The FRC has stated that it welcomes stakeholders’ views on its staff draft to inform its final response to the IASB.

The draft response can be accessed on the FRC website.

The first phase of the project deals with pre-replacement issues (issues affecting financial reporting in the period before the replacement of an existing interest rate benchmark). It was added to the standard-setting agenda of the IASB in December 2018 and saw the publication of an exposure draft of propoed amendments in May 2019. The IASB is currently working towards the finalisation of the amenments with an additional Board meeting scheduled for 28 August 2019.

The second phase of the project now added to the work plan deals with replacement issues (issues that might affect financial reporting when an existing interest rate benchmark is replaced). Deliberations have not begun yet and are currently expected to be taken up in Q3 2019.

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

• Business combination under common control (1–12): The ASAF provided views related to the application of alternative approaches as well as how to apply a current value approach and predecessor approach.
• Man­age­ment com­men­tary (13–26): The ASAF provided views on the staff’s proposals related to the notion of narrative coherence and identifying and reporting matters that could affect the entity’s long-term success.
• IBOR reform (27–43): The ASAF provided information on the current state of interest rate benchmark reform in their jurisdictions and discussed their views on financial reporting issues discovered. The members also discussed how they should address the issues in phase II of the project.
• Better communication — Primary financial statements (44–59):  The ASAF commented on possible approaches to structuring the new requirements. In addition, the members planned outreach events during the comment period.
• Variable and contingent consideration (60–65) — The ASAF discussed the FRC’s project on the conceptual basis for transactions involving variable and contingent consideration.
• Business reporting of intangibles: realistic proposals (66–70): The ASAF provided views on the FRC’s discussion paper and gave suggestions for developing FRC’s analysis on intangible assets.
• Discussion Paper Accounting for Pensions Plans with an Asset-return Promise (71–73): The ASAF commented on the EFRAG’s discussion paper where they had mix views on the three accounting alternatives.
• Updated and agenda plan (74–76): The ASAF discussed items to be added to the proposed agenda for the October 2019 ASAF meeting.

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

For more information, see the interviews with Mr Cendon and Ms Suzuki on the IASB website.

The Board is keen to appoint members with professional experience as preparers or users of electronic financial reports prepared using the IFRS Taxonomy. Technical knowledge of XBRL is desirable, but not required. Applications are requested by 7 October 2019. For more information, see the press release on the IASB website.

The Standards Review Board of the IVSC recognised the need to develop guidance for the valuation of financial instruments and created IVS 500 as a holding chapter on financial instruments, which was initially released as part of IVS 2017.

In December 2018, the IVSC Financial Instruments Board was formed and met for the first time in April 2019. At that meeting, the Board agreed to significantly modify and enhance the existing financial instrument standard IVS 500 and, as a first step, to publish a consultation document to obtain feedback from stakeholders on how to modify and enhance the existing standard.

The consultation document now released solicits feedback about the valuation topics the IVSC and its newly established Board for financial instruments should address as part of its current agenda and additional financial instruments valuation topics that stakeholders feel should be prioritised or added to IVSC’s agenda.

Please click to access the consultation document through the press release on the IVSC website. Comments are requested by 19 September 2019.

The study was sponsored by the Autorité des Normes Comptables (ANC), the French standard setter, and was presented at the 8th Symposium on Accounting Research 2018 in Paris (a recording of the research forum is available here).

The project behind the study sought answers to the questions:

• Where and by whom has integrated reporting been adopted?
• To what extent has the International <IR> Framework been followed (‘depth’ of adoption)?
• How are organisations reporting on the capitals?
• Are integrated reporters using the GRI Standards too?

The research reveals that integrated reporting has matured into fast-paced diffusion around the world, but it also offers some interesting insights such as the fact that more developed countries are lagging in adoption, some companies developed integrated reports even before the International <IR> Framework was published, and the title ‘integrated report’ is not necessarily used - some integrated reports are labeled 'annual report' or 'sustainability report'.

Please click for the press release on the IIRC website, which offers a brief summary and access to the full report.

The publication summarises the IPSASB’s achievements, challenges, and key developments in 2017 and 2018 and can be downloaded from the IPSASB website.