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

• Business combinations under common control (1–13): The ASAF members discussed the Board’s outreach and provided feedback on when and how the acquisition method and a book-value method should be used to report business combinations under common controls.
• Third agenda con­sul­ta­tion (14–39): The ASAF members discussed the strategic direction and balance of the Board’s activities, criteria for assessing the priority of financial reporting issues, and financial reporting issues that could be added to the work plan.
• Sustainability-related reporting (40–44): The ASAF members were presented with an update on the Trustees project on sustainability.
• Rate-regulated activities (45–66): ASAF members shared their views on Exposure Draft Regulatory Assets and Regulatory Liabilities. Specifically, the members discussed the scope, total allowed compensation, measurement, interaction with IFRS 12, and other topics.
• Goodwill and impairment (67–84): ASAF members shared their initial views on key items for the Board to consider for redeliberation and issues related to convergence between the Board’s preliminary views and US GAAP.
• Disclosure initiative — Targeted Standards-level review of disclosures (85–91): ASAF members discussed the outreach and fieldwork performed on Exposure Draft Disclosure Requirements in IFRS Standards — A Pilot Approach.
• Agenda planning (92–96): The ASAF members discussed topics for the October 2021 ASAF meeting.

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

Meetings with advisory bodies and other events will continue to be held online for the time being.

Please click for the announcement on the IASB website.

In the draft comment letter, the UKEB:

• supports the proposals in the exposure draft indicating that they will enable insurers to increase the relevance and understandability of comparative information on transition to IFRS 17 Insurance Contracts by permitting them to avoid classification mismatches that arise purely from differences in transition requirements between IFRS 9 Financial Instruments and IFRS 17.
• Agrees that the classification overlay should be optional and be applied on an instrument-by-instrument basis.
• Agrees that entities should present comparative information as if the classification and measurement requirements of IFRS 9 had been applied to financial assets within the scope of the classification overlay based on reasonable and supportable information available at the transition date.
• Supports permitting, but not requiring, entities to apply the impairment requirements in IFRS 9 to financial assets within the scope of the classification overlay. 
• Provides some recommendations to enhance the proposals in the ED including enhancements to the disclosure requirements to allow greater transparency for users of financial information.

Comments are requested by 30 August 2021.  The draft comment letter and separate invitation to comment are available on the UKEB website.

Part of the process involves seeking views from stakeholders on those areas that might be considered as part of the review.  In addition to stakeholder feedback the review will consider recent developments in financial reporting (such as changes in IFRS) and relevant developments in the wider reporting framework. 

To help inform stakeholders, the FRC will be hosting a short webinar on 13 September (15.00-15.30) to provide additional information about the review including next steps. 

The FRC will also be holding roundtable events so that stakeholders can discuss the review in more detail and share their views directly:

• the first roundtable on Thursday 23 September (15.00-16.00) will be primarily to discuss matters relevant to large and medium-sized entities.
• the second roundtable on Wednesday 13 October (15.00-16.00) will be primarily to discuss matters relevant to small and micro entities.

A press release including details of how to register for the webinar and roundtable events and a podcast discussing the importance of the periodic review is available on the FRC website.

The UKEB 'broadly supports' the proposed constitutional amendments.  However the UKEB makes some detailed observations where it believes that further development of the exposure draft is required:

• It encourages the Foundation to define the scope, mandate and working relationships of the two boards further highlighting that "this will be critical where there will be 'common ownership' of key elements to avoid any potential duplication and confusion".
• It recommends that the Foundation take the initial steps to ensure that an Interpretations Committee is mobilised as a priority.
• It does not support the proposal in paragraph 54 of the Constitution that a simple majority is required to publish an Exposure Draft or a final Standard. In the absence of an explanation for the lower threshold, the UKEB recommends equivalence with the IASB voting framework per paragraph 35 of the Constitution.
• It proposes that the International Sustainability Standard Board's (ISSB's) associated standards should be called "International Corporate Sustainability Reporting Standards’ (ICSRS)".  The UKEB indicates that "this would make the ‘corporate’ or ‘reporting’ nature of the new standards clear and avoid stakeholder confusion on the mandate and scope of the standards".
• The UKEB agrees with the proposed consequential amendment that the Foundation’s Executive Director shall engage with both the IASB and ISSB Chairs regarding operational decisions of the Foundation and its staff.

The full comment letter is available on the UKEB website.

Overall the UKEB supports the proposals in the Exposure Draft.  It does, however, make a number of recommendations to enhance the proposals including that:

• The proposed standard should be explicit that the agreements intended to be included in the scope of the definition “regulatory agreement” are a small subset of regulatory agreements. 
• The proposed standard should explicitly exclude service concession arrangements from its scope unless there is clear evidence that users would gain additional information from the application of both IFRIC 12 and the proposed standard to such agreements.
• The proposed standard should require an entity's regulator to be an independent third-party.
• Regulatory returns relating to assets not yet available for use in Total Allowable Compensation (TAC) should follow the economic substance of the requirements in the regulatory agreements.

The final comment letter is available on the UKEB website.

Exposure Draft 80 Improvements to IPSAS, 2021 proposes changes based off feedback received from stakeholders and publications by the IASB. Comments are requested by 30 September 2021.

For more information, see the press release on the IPSASB’s website.

In the draft comment letter, EFRAG expresses its appreciation for the IASB’s swift response and delivery of the exposure draft. Also, EFRAG commends the IASB for addressing most of the comments raised by European constituents in this area. Overall, EFRAG agrees with the IASB proposals in the exposure draft as they form a clear improvement over the current situation.

Comments on EFRAG's draft comment letter are requested by 15 September 2021. For more information, see the press release and the draft comment letter on the EFRAG website.

The feedback statement follows the discussion paper A Matter of Principles: The Future of Corporate Reporting, published in October 2020. In the feedback statement, the FRC discusses the feedback received from respondents and the next steps it plans to take, after taking into consideration the feedback received, over the short, medium and long term.

Feedback from respondents was broadly supportive of a reporting model that accommodates the information needs of investors and wider stakeholders; the development of guiding principles; the concept of the reporting network; and the development of standards for non-financial reporting. There was also support for the importance of firms providing information about how they view their obligations in respect of the public interest although support was more muted for a standalone Public Interest Report.

Respondents also called for the FRC to consider the practical challenges of implementing the proposals, including the level of audit and assurance over the different reports within the network.

The FRC received mixed views on whether an objective-driven model that was audience-neutral should replace the current model where the content of the report is determined by reference to the information needs of the primary users. One of the challenges identified with the objective-driven approach was determining materiality.

The press release and full feedback statement are available on the FRC website.

The report reveals that the FRC’s Enforcement Division has grown by 44% in the last year, to enable the swifter resolution of cases, while the number of investigations opened also increased.  Further growth is planned for the year ahead. 

The report highlights the FRC’s continued focus on driving audit quality improvements, with a significant number of cases resolved through constructive engagement. In matters which have been subject to enforcement action, 28 non-financial sanctions have resulted, including a number of requirements and conditions. These have included requirements for audit firms to undertake root cause analysis to ensure the underlying reasons for any failures are swiftly addressed and for training programmes to be implemented in areas of identified weakness.

Last year to assist in driving audit quality the report included themes from past audit cases. This year, with a view to improving the quality of financial statements by demonstrating behaviours to be avoided, the report includes themes from past cases against those responsible for preparing
financial statements.  It also highlight challenges for accountants and auditors in addressing future uncertainties arising from EU Exit, climate change and the pandemic.

The press release and Annual Enforcement Review are available from the FRC website.