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.

This year, the exposure draft does not include proposed amendments that aim at convergence with recent IASB amendments.

Candidates for such amendments would have the the IASB's Definition of Material (Amendments to IAS 1 and IAS 8) and Definition of Business (Amendments to IFRS 3), both issued in October 2018. However, on the definition of material the IPSASB decided not to amend the definition IPSAS 1 and IPSAS 3. Before making standards-level amendments the IPSASB will review the guidance on materiality in its own framework and in doing so will take account of the IASB’s amendments.

On the definition of a business the IPSASB decided not to amend the definition of an operation in IPSAS 40 (which draws on the definition of a business in IFRS 3) as the definition in IPSAS 40 applies to amalgamations as well as to acquisitions while some of the additional guidance in IFRS 3 would only be relevant to acquisitions. The modifications that would be needed to ensure that this guidance does not apply to amalgamations would go beyond the remit of the improvements project. A separate narrow scope project to evaluate the potential impact of the IASB’s revised definition of business on IPSAS 40 may be considered in the future.

Please click to access the exposure draft Improvements to IPSAS, 2019 on the IPSASB website. Comments are requested by 30 September 2019.

The meeting saw the presentation of six academic papers. These have now been finalised and also reflect the responses by academics and standard-setters to the presentations at the forum. We already posted our short summaries of the discussions in November 2018. In December 2018, the IASB made available audio recordings of the presentations and responses. The finalised papers are now available in Abacus Volume 55, Issue 1.

The draft taxonomy reflects the new requirements introduced by the Companies (Directors' Report) and Limited Liability Partnerships (Energy and Carbon Report) Regulations 2018 requiring quoted and large unquoted companies and LLPs to report on greenhouse gas emissions, energy consumption and energy efficiency. 

The draft is available via Yeti, a live consultation programme enabling  interested parties to submit responses in relation to the SECR taxonomy as and when they wish or apply it in practice. In addition, the FRC has set out some specific questions, including consideration of whether the SECR taxonomy should include the Recommendations of the Task Force for Climate Disclosure (TCFD).

For the press release and access to the draft, click here.

For the final SECR Taxonomy feedback statement published on 12 November, click here.

The update reports on the EFRAG Board meeting on 9 July 2019, the EFRAG Technical Expert Group (TEG) meeting on 3-4 July 2019, the EFRAG Consultative Forum of Standard Setters (EFRAG CFSS) and the EFRAG TEG meeting on 3 July 2019 and EFRAG TEG conference call on 23 July 2019. The update also list publications issued in July 2019:

• EFRAG's final comment letter in response to the IFRS Foundation Exposure Draft Proposed amendments to the IFRS Foundation Due Process Handbook;
• EFRAG's draft comment letter in response to the IASB Exposure Draft ED/2019/4 Amendments to IFRS 17;
• EFRAG's feedback statement on its discussion paper Non-exchange Transfers: A role for societal benefit;
• EFRAG's feedback statement on the EFRAG secretariat working paper FICE Early-Stage Analysis; and
• The European Lab Agenda Consultation.

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

e CASS Standard was introduced in 2015 to support the Financial Conduct Authority’s regulatory activity and oversight of the CAThe CASS Standard was introduced in 2015 to support the Financial Conduct Authority's regulatory activity and oversight of the CASS sector.

The revisions follow a post implementation review of the standard.  The proposed changes include:

• regulatory changes to the scope of the CASS regime;
• changes to improve the value of reporting to those charged with governance; and
• some streamlining to requirements.

The consultation runs until Friday 27 September 2019.  

A press release and the consultation are available on the FRC website.

The 2020 edition of IVS will replace IVS 2017 and consists of five general standards and six asset standards. The general standards offer guidance for all valuation assignments including terms of a valuation engagement, bases of value, valuation approaches and methods, and reporting. The asset standards include requirements related to specific types of assets.

More information is available through the press release on the IVSC website. 

Meeting ac­tiv­i­ties included the following:

Trustees’ meeting

• Executive session:
• Report of the Executive Director — The Trustees received a report from the Executive Director Lee White on ac­tiv­i­ties since the last meeting.
• Strategy review — The Trustees discussed key challenges for the Foundation, the support for consistent application of IFRS Standards, timeliness, and sustainability reporting.
• Gov­er­nance issues — The Trustees viewed a presentation from the IFRS Foundation Advisory Council and discussed its role in providing strategic advice.
• Op­er­a­tions analysis — The Trustees received a presentation on managing the Foundation’s brand.
• Future meetings — Trustees confirmed that their next meetings would be in Brussels in February 2020, Seoul in June 2020, and New Delhi in October 2020.
• Committee reports — The Trustees discussed reports from the Business Process and Technology Committee, Audit and Finance Committee, the Human Capital Committee, the Nom­i­nat­ing Committee, and the DPOC. (A report of the DPOC meeting is attached to the meeting summary.)
• IASB Chairman’s report — The Chair of the IASB provided the Trustees with a general update on the IASB’s technical ac­tiv­i­ties, es­pe­cially on the proposed amendments to IFRS 17, the IBOR reform, simplification of accounting for goodwill, and management commentary.
• Meetings in Munich — The Trustees met with members of German accounting standard setter (the DRSC).

The full report on the IFRS Foun­da­tion trustees’ and DPOC meeting is available on the IASB’s website.