Entity perspective vs. Proprietary/Parent Company perspective

The Board discussed whether to issue a document (for example an invitation to comment) to describe the entity perspective and the proprietary perspective in the context of general purpose financial reporting. The staff was concerned that the Board was firmly in favour of the entity perspective but had never explained why nor given its constituents an opportunity to comment on that position.

The staff argued for a stand-alone document. They had considered and dismissed the idea of including the discussion in the basis for conclusions on the forthcoming Exposure Draft of Phase A of the Framework project, because they thought the issue deserved a more prominent discussion than a section in the Basis of a project of which it was not really a part. They had also considered and rejected the possibility of including the topic in the forthcoming Discussion Paper on the Reporting Entity chapter of the Framework, because the topic had nothing to do with the boundaries of the reporting entity for general purpose financial reporting. The staff represented to the Board that a separate invitation to comment could be prepared in short order and included with the above-mentioned Exposure Draft and Discussion Paper.

The Board agreed to allow the staff to prepare the invitation to comment.