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UKEB publishes 2024 consolidated UK-adopted International Accounting Standards

15 Mar, 2024

The UK Endorsement Board (UKEB) has published the 2024 consolidated UK-adopted International Accounting Standards on behalf of the UK Government.

The UKEB website contains links to the text of each UK-adopted International Accounting Standard that has been brought into UK law by Statutory Instrument 2019/685 International Accounting Standards and European Public Limited-Liability Company (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019.

For further information see the UKEB website.

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UKEB to hold outreach events on the IASB's business combinations ED

15 Mar, 2024

The UK Endorsement Board (UKEB) is to hold outreach events to understand UK stakeholder views on the recently published IASB/ED/2024/1 'Business Combinations — Disclosures, Goodwill and Impairment (Proposed amendments to IFRS 3 and IAS 36)'.

The exposure draft was published by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) on 14 March 2024.  The UKEB aims to understand UK stakeholder views and is inviting them to participate in the following:

  • Users of financial statements – a dedicated roundtable on Tuesday 7 May 2024.
  • Preparers of financial statements – one-to-one interviews (around 30 minutes) throughout May 2024.

Further information and details of how to register are available on the UKEB website.

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FRC to hold roundtable events on its review of the UK Stewardship Code

15 Mar, 2024

The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) will hold a series of roundtable events from 26 March to 7 May as part of its review of the UK Stewardship Code 2020 ("the Code").

The FRC launched a review of the Code in February 2024.  The FRC is keen to hear of any areas for potential improvement and the extent to which the Code continues to meet its stated purpose.

The events are designed for asset managers, asset owners, corporates and service providers.

Further detail and in­form­ation on how to re­gister for the events is avail­able on the FRC website.

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GHG Protocol releases draft summaries of Scope 3 Standard feedback

15 Mar, 2024

The Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Protocol secretariat has released a draft summary report providing a detailed overview of stakeholder feedback from a survey it conducted on its Scope 3 Standard. In addition, the secretariat has released a proposal summary giving an overview of proposal submissions related to the Scope 3 Standard.

The inclusion of feedback in the summaries does not indicate that a recommendation will be implemented or reflected in updates to either the Scope 3 Standard or Scope 3 Technical Guidance. Instead, the GHG Protocol secretariat and governance bodies are prioritising which topics to address in the update process, including the scope of work for updates and additional guidance and resources.

According to the draft summary report, the aim of any updates will be to align with best practice approaches to ensure that the GHG Protocol standards for corporate accounting and reporting are effective in providing a rigorous and credible accounting foundation for businesses to measure, plan, and track progress toward science-based and net-zero targets in line with the global 1.5°C goal. Any future updates will seek harmonisation and interoperability with accounting rules under development through major disclosure initiatives.

The review period for the summaries is open until 15 April 2024.  

Please click to access the following on the GHG Protocol website:

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FRAB minutes and sypporting documents for November 2023 meeting made available

14 Mar, 2024

The associated documents and minutes of the Financial Reporting Advisory Board’s (FRAB’s) meeting on 23 November 2023 have been made available on the HM Treasury website.

Key topics dis­cussed during the November 2023 meeting in­cluded:

  • An update on the 2022-23 reporting cycle.
  • A National Audit Office (NAO) update to FRAB.
  • A User Preparer Advisory Group update.
  • An update on the them­atic review of valu­ation of non-in­vest­ment assets.
  • An update from the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) and the Local Authority (Scotland) Accounts Advisory Committee.
  • The treatment of local government pensions within health accounts.
  • An update on the Financial Reporting Manual (FReM) 2023-24 and FReM 2024-25.
  • A sustainability reporting update including the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosure (TCFD) recommendations exposure draft.
  • An update on the Performance Reporting thematic review.
  • An update on FRAB strategy, action plan and risk register.
  • An update on IFRS Interpretations Committee meetings since the last FRAB Board meeting.

The as­so­ci­ated doc­u­ments for the November 2023 meeting are avail­able on the HM Treasury wesbite.

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UKEB announces new Board appointments

14 Mar, 2024

The UK Endorsement Board (UKEB) has announced the appointment of two new Board members, effective from 1 March.

Nine existing Board members have also been reappointed for a second term, effective from 15 March.  One Board member will also step down when the term ends on 14 March.

Further information is available on the UKEB website.

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IASB proposes enhanced information on acquisitions

14 Mar, 2024

The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) has published an exposure draft IASB/ED/2024/1 'Business Combinations — Disclosures, Goodwill and Impairment (Proposed amendments to IFRS 3 and IAS 36)'. Comments are requested by 15 July 2024.

 

Background

This project results from the post-implementation review of IFRS 3 Business Combinations.

The feedback on the post-implementation review had revealed that impairment of goodwill is not always recognised in a timely fashion and that disclosures required by IFRSs do not provide enough information to understand whether the acquired business is performing as was expected at the time of the acquisition. There were also comments that the impairment test required for goodwill under IAS 36 Impairment of Assets is costly and complex.

The IASB therefore decided to investigate possible improvements to IFRS 3 Business Combinations and IAS 36 and a discussion paper was published on 19 March 2020.

The exposure draft published today considers feedback received on the discussion paper and proposes amendments to IFRS 3 and IAS 36 that aim at providing users with information that would allow them to better assess the performance of an entity’s business combinations and how efficiently and effectively management has used the entity’s economic resources to acquire these businesses.

 

Suggested changes

The proposed amendments in exposure draft IASB/ED/2024/1 Business Combinations — Disclosures, Goodwill and Impairment (Proposed amendments to IFRS 3 and IAS 36) are:

Proposed amendments to IFRS 3

  • For strategic business combinations, which are a subset of material business combinations and are identified using a set of thresholds in IFRS 3, an entity would be required to provide information about its acquisition-date key objectives and related targets for the business combination and whether these key objectives and related targets are being met. An entity would only have to disclose information that is reviewed by its key management personnel.
  • Entities would be exempted from disclosing some of the information if that information is commercially sensitive or would expose the entity to litigation risk.
  • The exposure draft includes several other proposed amendments to the disclosure requirements in IFRS 3, including new disclosure objectives and disclosure requirements around expected synergies the strategic rationale for the business combination.

Proposed amendments to IAS 36

  • The IASB proposes amendments to the impairment test in IAS 36 to reduce shielding by clarifying how to allocate goodwill to cash-generating units.
  • Other proposed amendments regard the disclose in which reportable segment a (group of) cash-generating unit is included and how an entity calculates an asset’s value in use. 

Other proposed amendments

  • The exposure draft also proposes to amend the forthcoming IFRS 19 regarding disclosures about the strategic rationale for a business combination, the expected synergies, the contribution of the acquired business and the discount rate used in calculating the value in use.

    Comments on the proposed changes are requested by 15 July 2024.

     

    Effective date

    The IASB will decide on the effective date for the proposed amendments after exposure. The IASB proposes to require an entity to apply the amendments retrospectively. Earlier application would be permitted.

     

    Additional information

    Please click for:

      EFRAG (European Financial Reporting Advisory Group) (dk green) Image

      EFRAG publishes February 2024 issue of EFRAG Update

      12 Mar, 2024

      The European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG) has published an ‘EFRAG Update’ summarising public technical discussions held and decisions made during February 2024.

      The update reports on the EFRAG Governance and Due Process -Administrative Board meeting on 27 February 2024, EFRAG Financial Reporting Board (EFRAG FRB) and EFRAG Sustainability Reporting Board (EFRAG SRB) joint meeting on 28 February 2024, EFRAG Financial Reporting Technical Expert Group (EFRAG FR TEG) and EFRAG Sustainability Reporting Technical Expert Group (EFRAG SR TEG) joint meeting on 15 February 2024, EFRAG FRB meeting on 29 February 2024 and EFRAG FR TEG meetings on 14 February and 15 February 2024.

      The update also lists EFRAG publications issued in February including:

      Please click to download the February 2024 EFRAG Update from the EFRAG website.

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      Agenda for the March 2024 ASAF meeting

      12 Mar, 2024

      The IFRS Foundation has released an agenda and meeting papers for the meeting of the Accounting Standards Advisory Forum (ASAF), which will be held in London on 25-26 March 2024.

      A summary of the agenda is set out below:

      Monday 25 March 2024 (10:15-17:30)

      • Agenda planning and feedback from previous ASAF meetings
      • Subsidiaries without public accountability: disclosures
      • Rate-regulated activities
      • Post-implementation review of IFRS 9 — impairment
      • Amendments to the classification and measurement of financial instruments

      Tuesday 26 March 2024 (9:00-13:15)

      • Post-implementation review of IFRS 15 Revenue from Contract with Customers
      • Climate-related and other uncertainties in the financial statements
      • EFRAG project on variable consideration
      • Financial instruments with characteristics of equity

      Agenda papers for the meeting are available on the IFRS Foun­da­tion website.

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      C&S annual report reveals increase in sustainability policies

      12 Mar, 2024

      Carrots & Sticks (C&S) has published the 2023 edition of its annual report, which presents a comprehensive assessment of environmental, social and governance (ESG) and sustainability policy worldwide. The report highlights the expanding nature of ESG and sustainability policies since 2020.

      The report provides analyses over 2,463 policies from 132 countries, 76 international and regional organisations from 1897 to the present day. The report notes a steep rise in voluntary policies since the UN Sustainable Decelopment Goals (SDGs) were launched in 2015.

      According to the report, there is a dominance of government entities as policy issuers and a prevalence of voluntary (over mandatory) policies. Most policies fall into the "low restrictiveness" category, which suggests limited power of enforcement.

      The full report is available on the C&S website.

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