History of IFRS 19

Related In­ter­pre­ta­tions

• None

Amendments under consideration by the IASB

• Updating the Subsidiaries without Public Accountability: Disclosures Standard

Su­per­seded Standards

• None

Summary of IFRS 19

Objective

The objective of IFRS 19 is to specify the disclosure requirements an entity is permitted to apply instead of the disclosure requirements in other IFRS Accounting Standards. [IFRS 19:1] 

Meeting the objective

An entity electing to apply IFRS 19 applies the requirements in other IFRS Accounting Standards, except for the disclosure requirements. Instead of the disclosure requirements, the entity applies the requirements in IFRS 19. [IFRS 19:2] 

Therefore, an entity applying IFRS 19 is not required to apply the disclosure requirements in other IFRS Accounting Standards nor apply any statements about, or references to, those disclosure requirements. [IFRS 19:3] The following exceptions apply: [IFRS 19:4] 

• (a) disclosure requirements in other IFRS Accounting Standards that remain applicable to an entity applying IFRS 19 are specified in IFRS 19; 
• (b) if an entity applying IFRS 19 applies IFRS 8 Operating Segments, IFRS 17 Insurance Contracts or IAS 33 Earnings per Share, it is required to apply all the disclosure requirements in those standards. 
• (c) a new or amended IFRS Accounting Standard may include disclosure requirements about an entity’s transition to that standard. Any relief available to an entity applying this standard from disclosure requirements about the entity’s transition to that new or amended standard will be set out in the new or amended IFRS Accounting Standard. 

In accordance with IFRS 18, an entity applying IFRS 19 is not required to provide a specific disclosure required by IFRS 19 if the information resulting from that disclosure would not be material. [IFRS 19:5] 

An entity is required to consider whether to provide additional disclosures when compliance with the specific requirements in IFRS 19 is insufficient to enable users of financial statements to understand the effect of transactions and other events and conditions on the entity’s financial position and financial performance. [IFRS 19:6] 

Scope

An entity may elect to apply this Standard in its consolidated, separate or individual financial statements if, and only if, at the end of the reporting period: [IFRS 19:7] 

• (a) it is a subsidiary; 
• (b) it does not have public accountability; and 
• (c) it has an ultimate or intermediate parent that produces consolidated financial statements available for public use that comply with IFRS Accounting Standards. 

An entity has public accountability if: [IFRS 19:11] 

• its debt or equity instruments are traded in a public market or it is in the process of issuing such instruments for trading in a public market (a domestic or foreign stock exchange or an over-the-counter market, including local and regional markets); or 
• it holds assets in a fiduciary capacity for a broad group of outsiders as one of its primary businesses (for example, banks, credit unions, insurance companies, securities brokers/dealers, mutual funds and investment banks often meet this criterion). 

Electing or revoking an election to apply IFRS 19 

An entity that elects to apply IFRS 19 in one reporting period may later revoke that election. An entity may elect to apply IFRS 19 more than once—for example, an entity that applied IFRS 19 in a prior period but not in the immediately preceding period may elect to apply IFRS 19 in the current period. [IFRS 19:13] 

An entity that applies IFRS 19 in the current reporting period but not in the immediately preceding period is required to provide comparative information (that is, information for the preceding period) for all amounts reported in the current period’s financial statements, unless IFRS 19 or another IFRS Accounting Standard permits or requires otherwise. The entity is required to include comparative information for narrative and descriptive information if it is necessary for an understanding of the current period’s financial statements. [IFRS 19:14] 

An entity that applied IFRS 19 in the preceding reporting period—but elects not to (or is no longer eligible to) apply it in the current period and continues applying IFRS Accounting Standards—is required to provide comparative information with respect to the preceding period for all amounts reported in the current period’s financial statements, unless another IFRS Accounting Standard permits or requires otherwise. The entity is required to include comparative information for narrative and descriptive information if it is necessary for an understanding of the current period’s financial statements. [IFRS 19:15] 

Interaction with IFRS 1 First-time Adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards 

An entity that applies IFRS 19 when it prepares its first IFRS financial statements is required to apply the disclosure requirements in IFRS 19 instead of the disclosure requirements in IFRS 1. [IFRS 19:17] 

Electing or revoking an election to apply IFRS 19 does not, on its own, result in an entity meeting the definition of a first-time adopter of IFRS Accounting Standards in IFRS 1. For example, an entity that applied IFRS Accounting Standards, but not IFRS 19, in the immediately preceding reporting period and that applies IFRS 19 in the current period is not a first-time adopter of IFRS Accounting Standards and is not permitted to apply IFRS 1 in the current period. [IFRS 19:18] 

Similarly, an entity revoking the election to apply IFRS 19 in the current reporting period does not apply IFRS 1 in the current period if, in the immediately preceding period, it provided an explicit and unreserved statement of compliance with IFRS Accounting Standards. [IFRS 19:19] 

Disclosure requirements 

Compliance with IFRS Accounting Standards 

An entity whose financial statements comply with IFRS Accounting Standards and the requirements in IFRS 19 is required to make an explicit and unreserved statement of such compliance in the notes. An entity that applies IFRS 19 is required to, as part of that unreserved statement, state that it has applied IFRS 19. An entity applying IFRS 19 is not permitted to describe financial statements as complying with IFRS Accounting Standards unless the entity complies with the requirements in IFRS 19 and all applicable requirements in other IFRS Accounting Standards. [IFRS 19:20] 

Requirements in subsections relating to each IFRS Accounting Standards

IFRS 19:21-276 set out the detailed disclosures that an entity applying IFRS 19 is required to make. These disclosure requirements are a reduced version of those set out in other IFRS Accounting Standards. Of the 34 IFRS Accounting Standards that include disclosure requirements, IFRS 19 provides reduced disclosure requirements for 30 of them. The disclosure requirements for 3 standards have to be applied in full (IFRS 8, IFRS 17 and IAS 33). Entities applying IAS 26 Accounting and Reporting by Retirement Benefit Plans do not meet the ‘not have public accountability’ criterion and are therefore not eligible to apply IFRS 19. 

Effective date and transition 

IFRS 19 is effective for reporting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2027. Earlier application is permitted. If an entity chooses to apply IFRS 19 earlier, it is required to disclose that fact. If an entity applies IFRS 19 in the current reporting period but not in the immediately preceding period, it is required to provide comparative information (that is, information for the preceding period) for all amounts reported in the current period’s financial statements, unless IFRS 19 or another IFRS Accounting Standard permits or requires otherwise. [IFRS 19:A1] 

An entity that elects to apply IFRS 19 for a reporting period earlier than the reporting period in which it first applies IFRS 18 is required to apply specific disclosure requirements set out in Appendix B of IFRS 19. [IFRS 19:A3] 

If an entity applies IFRS 19 for an annual reporting period that begins before 1 January 2025 and has not applied the amendments to IAS 21 titled Lack of Exchangeability, it is not required to make the disclosures in IFRS 19 that are related to those amendments. [IFRS 19:A4]