The limited revision to IAS 19 includes:

• adding an option to recognise actuarial gains and losses outside of the income statement,
• adding an exemption from defined benefit plan accounting for subsidiaries, and
• additional disclosures.

During the discussions, it was noted that six Board members would potentially dissent because of the proposed exemption for subsidiaries from defined benefit plan accounting. One Board member noted that the subsidiary could dividend up to the parent the plan contribution without recognising an expense under this proposal. The Board will address this issue further at its February or March meeting.

The Board decided to add the following disclosure requirements to IAS 19:

• A reconciliation of beginning and ending balances of the benefit obligation showing separately, if applicable, the effects during the period attributable to each of the following: service cost, interest cost, contributions by plan participants, actuarial gains and losses, foreign currency exchange rate changes, benefits paid, plan amendments, business combinations, divestitures, curtailments, settlements, and special termination benefits.
• A reconciliation of beginning and ending balances of the fair value of plan assets showing separately, if applicable, the effects during the period attributable to each of the following: actual return on plan assets, foreign currency exchange rate changes, contributions by the employer, contributions by plan participants, benefits paid, business combinations, divestitures, and settlements.
• A narrative description (along with amounts) of the basis used to determine the overall expected long-term rate of return on assets assumption, such as the general approach used, the extent to which the overall rate of return on assets assumption was based on historical returns, the extent to which adjustments were made to those historical returns in order to reflect expectations of future returns, and how those adjustments were determined.
• The employer's best estimate, as soon as it can reasonably be determined, of contributions expected to be paid to the plan during the next fiscal year beginning after the date of the latest statement of financial position presented. Estimated contributions may be presented in the aggregate combining (1) contributions required by funding regulations or laws, (2) discretionary contributions, and (3) noncash contributions.
• Sensitivity analysis for all key assumptions on the aggregate of the service and interest cost components of the benefit costs.
• Any substantive commitment, such as a past practice or a history of regular benefit increases, used as the basis for accounting for the benefit obligation should be disclosed in the summary of the plan.