Disclosure initiative — Subsidiaries that are SMEs

Background

This project is part of the IASB's overall disclosure initiative and aims at developing an IFRS (a reduced disclosure IFRS) that will permit subsidiaries that are small and medium-sized entities (SMEs) to apply IFRSs but with reduced disclosure requirements.

As part of the feedback on the 2015 Agenda consultation, some respondents had noted that subsidiaries that are SMEs report to their parent, for consolidation purposes, numbers that apply the recognition and measurement requirements of IFRSs. Using the IFRS for SMEs is not attractive to them as it would mean that they would have to maintain two sets of accounting information. Instead, they would welcome less onerous disclosure requirements as that would reduce costs without removing information needed by the users of their financial statements. They, therefore, suggested that the Board consider developing a reduced disclosure IFRS.

The Board acknowledged these concerns and decided to pursue a project that would analyse adaptations required to the disclosure requirements of the IFRS for SMEs and possibly develop a reduced disclosure IFRS that would allow eligible subsidiaries to apply, in principle, the recognition and measurement requirements of full IFRSs and the disclosure requirements of the IFRS for SMEs with minimal tailoring of those disclosure requirements.

 

Current status of the project

An exposure draft of a proposed new standard was published 26 July 2021 with comments requested by 31 January 2022.

 

Project milestones

Date Development Comments
April 2016 Issue first discussed by the IASB (in response to the feedback to the 2015 Agenda consultation)
January 2020 Project added to the IASB's standard-setting agenda
26 July 2021 ED/2021/7 Subsidiaries without Public Accountability: Disclosures published Comments requested by 31 January 2022

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