September

FRC publishes updated list of successful signatories to the UK Stewardship Code

12 Sep, 2022

The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has published an updated list of successful signatories to the UK Stewardship Code (the Code) which sets high standards of stewardship for those investing money on behalf of UK savers and pensioners.

The Code is voluntary and sets an aspirational standard beyond minimum regulatory requirements in the UK. The Code comprises 12 ‘apply and explain’ Principles for asset owners and asset managers, with reporting expectations relevant to their role. In addition, there are six, separate ‘apply and explain’ Principles for service providers with reporting expectations.

The updated list includes 43 new signatories following the Spring 2022 assessment, taking the total number of signatories to 236, with assets under management (AUM) of £40.7tn, up from £33.3tn. 

The FRC were encouraged that signatories who were reporting for their second year, having first applied in 2021, had in most cases used the feedback they received to improve their reporting.  However it did identify that improvements can be made in the reporting of activities and outcomes using both quantitative and qualitative evidence.

Further information is available on the FRC website

September 2022 IASB meeting agenda posted

09 Sep, 2022

The IASB has posted the agenda for its next meeting, which will be held in its office in London on 19–22 September 2021. There are eleven topics on the agenda.

The Board will discuss the following:

  • Goodwill and impairment
  • Equity method
  • Rate-regulated activities
  • Post-implementation review (PIR) of IFRS 9
  • Financial instruments with characteristics of equity
  • Primary financial statements
  • Board work plan update
  • PIR of IFRS 15
  • Contractual cash flow characteristics
  • Extractive activities
  • Maintenance and consistent application

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.

September 2022 ISSB meeting agenda posted

09 Sep, 2022

The ISSB has posted the agenda for its meeting, which will be held in Frankfurt on 20–23 September 2022. There are three topics on the agenda.

The Board will discuss the following:

  • General Sus­tain­abil­ity-re­lated Dis­clo­sures
  • Cli­mate-re­lated Dis­clo­sures
  • IASB update

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.

European Union formally adopts amendments to IFRS 17

09 Sep, 2022

The European Union has published a Commission Regulation endorsing 'Initial Application of IFRS 17 and IFRS 9 — Comparative Information (Amendment to IFRS 17)' issued by the IASB in December 2021.

The IASB published the amendments to IFRS 17 Insurance Contracts to enable companies to improve the usefulness of the comparative information presented on initial application of IFRS 17 and IFRS 9.

The Commission Regulation amending Regulation (EC) No 1126/2008 adopting certain international accounting standards in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 1606/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council was published in the Official Journal of the European Union on 9 September 2022.

Pre-meeting summaries for the September 2022 IFRS Interpretations Committee meeting

08 Sep, 2022

The IFRS Interpretations Committee (Committee) meets on 13 September 2022. The Committee will discuss three comment letter analyses on tentative agenda decisions and an item for input on an IASB project.

Comment letters on tentative agenda decisions

IFRS 17 Insurance Contracts and IAS 21 The Effects of Changes in Foreign Exchange Rates—Multi-currency Groups of Insurance Contracts: In June 2022, the Committee published a tentative agenda decision in response to a submission about how to account for insurance contracts that generate cash flows in more than one currency. Most of the respondents agreed (or did not disagree) with the Committee’s conclusion regarding identifying portfolios of insurance contracts. 11 out of 18 respondents agreed (or did not disagree) with the Committee’s conclusions regarding the measurement of a multi-currency group of insurance contracts and 7 respondents expressed concerns that an entity could develop a multi-currency accounting policy.

Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPAC): Accounting for Warrants at Acquisition: In March 2022, the Committee published a tentative agenda decision on how an entity accounts for warrants on acquiring a SPAC. Most respondents agreed (or did not disagree) with the technical analysis and conclusions but raised concerns about the potential unintended consequences.

IFRS 9 Financial Instruments and IFRS 16 Leases— Lessor Forgiveness of Lease Payments:  In March 2022, the Committee published a tentative agenda in response to the submission about a lessor’s application of IFRS 9 and IFRS 16 in accounting for a particular rent concession for which the only change to the lease contract is the lessor’s forgiveness of lease payments due from the lessee under that contract. 11 out of 23 respondents agreed with the analysis of the Committee but requested clarification on some aspects of the analysis while 11 respondents disagreed with the Committee’s analysis and conclusion.

After analysing the comments from the respondents, the staff recommend finalising all three agenda decisions with some suggested changes.

Input on IASB project

Amendments to IAS 21—Lack of Exchangeability: In April 2021, the IASB published Exposure Draft ED/2021/4 Lack of Exchangeability, which proposed amendments to IAS 21. The purpose of the project is to assess the need to add requirements on how an entity determines whether a currency is exchangeable into another currency and the accounting requirements to apply when it is not. To assist the staff in developing recommendations for the IASB, the staff is asking Committee members for their views on one of the proposals in the ED—determining the spot exchange rate when exchangeability is lacking.

Matters reported to the IASB: The staff have reported several of the Committee’s matters to the IASB but have not identified any matters to recommend for further discussion by the Committee. There were various matters that the IASB is considering as part of its work plan, may consider as part of its future work plan or considered and decided (or tentatively decided) not to add to the work plan.

Work in progress: There are no new matters that have not been presented to the Committee.

The full agenda for the meeting and our com­pre­hen­sive pre-meet­ing summaries can be found here.

IASB issues exposure draft of proposed amendments to the IFRS for SMEs

08 Sep, 2022

The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) has published an Exposure Draft (ED) of proposed amendments to its 'International Financial Reporting Standard for Small and Medium-sized Entities' (IFRS for SMEs). The proposals are the result of the second comprehensive review of that standard. The IASB suggests changes to all of the 35 sections, however, some of the changes are minor. Comments on IASB/ED/2022/1 are requested by 7 March 2023.

 

Background

On 9 July 2009, the IASB had issued the International Financial Reporting Standard for Small and Medium-Sized Entities (IFRS for SMEs). This standard was meant to provide simplifications to the requirements in full IFRSs that reflect the needs of users of SMEs' financial statements and cost-benefit considerations. Compared with full IFRSs, it is less complex in that topics with no relevance to SMEs are omitted, policy choices are reduced, requirements in full IFRSs are simplified and disclosures are reduced.

In order to balance keeping the requirements of the IFRS for SMEs broadly in sync with those in full IFRSs on the one hand and reducing the burden stemming from regular changes to the literature on the other, the IASB had decided that the IFRS for SMEs should be subject to a review approximately once every three years. The Board had also decided that not necessarily all changes made to full IFRSs during that period would be copied to the IFRS for SMEs; rather, a change in full IFRSs would cause the Board to consider whether (and, if so, how) the current version should be amended.

The IASB took up a first review of the IFRS for SMEs in 2012, resulting in the May 2015 amendments to the IFRS for SMEs, which became effective 1 January 2017. A second review was taken up in 2019 to identify whether and, if so, how the IFRS for SMEs should be updated to take account of IFRSs and amendments not currently incorporated into the IFRS for SMEs.

 

Suggested changes to the IFRS for SMEs

While there are proposed changes to all sections of the standard, the table below lists the most important ones:

Topic Description
Definition of public accountability The IASB proposes to add clarity to the standard without changing the intended scope by noting that banks, credit unions, insurance companies, securities brokers/dealers, mutual funds and investment banks are often publicly accountable as well as entities where there is a high degree of outside interest in the entity.
Definition of an asset/liability liability The IASB proposes to align the definition of an asset and of a liability with the 2018  Conceptual Framework with two exceptions where they want to avoid unintended consequences.
Definition of control The IASB proposes aligning the standard with IFRS 10 and introducing control as the single basis for consolidation that applies to all entities. The IASB also proposes to retain the rebuttable presumption that control exists when an investor owns more than a majority of the voting rights of an investee as a simplification of the control model.
Impairment of financial assets The IASB proposes to retain the incurred loss model for trade receivables and contract assets regarding revenue from contracts with customers and to require an expected credit loss model for all other financial assets measured at amortised cost. The requirement for impairment of equity instruments to be measured at cost would be retained.
Fair value measurement The IASB proposes aligning the standard with IFRS 13. This alignment would not amend the requirements for when to use fair value measurement.
Joint control The IASB proposes aligning the definition of joint control and retaining the classification of a joint arrangement as jointly controlled assets, a jointly controlled operation, or a jointly controlled entity and the measurement requirements for these classifications.
Acquisition method of accounting The IASB proposes partially aligning the standard with the acquisition method of accounting in IFRS 3.
Revenue from contracts with customers The IASB proposes aligning the standard with the principles and language used in IFRS 15. The proposed revised requirements are based on the five-step model in IFRS 15, with simplifications that retain the basic principles in IFRS 15 for recognising revenue.
Employee benefits The IASB proposes to delete the paragraph of the standard containing the measurement simplifications for defined benefit obligations.
Whether further action is required

The ED also contains question regarding whether further action is required on the following topics:

  • Alignment on the requirements for leases
  • Alignment on the recognition and measurement requirements for development costs
  • Requirement to offset equity instruments
  • Step acquisitions

 

Comment deadline and next steps

Comments on IASB/ED/2022/1 Third edition of the IFRS for SMEs Accounting Standard close on 7 March 2023.

The IASB will consider the comments it receives on the proposals and will then decide whether to proceed with any of the suggested amendments to the IFRS for SMEs.

 

Additional Information

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IFRS Foundation sets up consultative committee on sustainability

07 Sep, 2022

The IFRS Foundation has announced the formation of the Sustainability Consultative Committee (SCC). The SCC’s remit is to identify, inform and advise the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) on priority sustainability matters and related technical protocols, as well as significant interdependencies between sustainability matters.

The SCC has four permanent member organisations ― the International Monetary Fund, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the United Nations and the World Bank. Alongside these permanent organisations, seven additional expert members have been appointed.

Please see the press release on the IFRS Foundation website for more information. A full list of member organisations can be found here.

EFRAG publishes August 2022 issue of EFRAG Update

06 Sep, 2022

The European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG) has published an ‘EFRAG Update’ summarising public technical discussions held and decisions made during August 2022.

The update reports on the webinars and online outreaches as well as the open consultations. It also covers EFRAG’s sustainability reporting and related activities.

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

UKEB appoints two additional Board members

06 Sep, 2022

The UK Endorsement Board (UKEB) has appointed Robin Cohen and Edward Knapp to the Board with three year terms commencing on 1 September.

Further information is available on the UKEB website.

UK Endorsement Board launches recruitment campaign for the Rate-regulated Activities Advisory Group

06 Sep, 2022

The UK Endorsement Board (UKEB) has launched a campaign to recruit members of its first ad-hoc advisory group, the Rate-regulated Activities Advisory Group.

The group will be chaired by a UKEB Board Member and will provide the Board with specialist knowledge, information, and advice in relation to its project on Rate-regulated Activities.

The closing date for applications for the Rate-regulated Activities Advisory Group is 10 October 2022.

Further information on the roles, and how to apply, is available on the UKEB website.

Update 10 October 2022 – the above deadline was extended to 7 November 2022.

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