The Board considered and approved a proposed amendment to IFRS 1, Appendix E Short-term Exemptions from IFRSs, to permit entities adopting IFRSs for the first time before 1 January 2010 to apply the transition provisions in paragraph 44G of IFRS 7 in their first IFRS financial statements. The Amendment was distributed in Ballot Draft form later in the meeting and the Exposure Draft (ED) is expected soon.

The Board agreed to amend IFRS 1 to state that an entity need not provide the comparative information required by the March 2009 amendments to IFRS 7 Improving Disclosures about Financial Instruments for first-time adopters adopting before 1 January 2010. As a result, IFRS 1, Appendix E, paragraph E1 will be amended as follows:

E1 A first-time adopter may apply the transitional provisions in paragraph 44G of IFRS 7 to the extent that the entity's first IFRS reporting period commences earlier than 1 January 2010

The Board agreed to propose that this amendment to IFRS 1 be effective for annual periods beginning on or after 1 July 2010 with early adoption permitted.

The ED will be published for a 30-day comment period as soon as possible (most likely during the weeks of 23 or 30 November, given that it has been balloted). The comments will be discussed at the January 2010 meeting, with the intention that the amendment is finalised at that meeting and issued soon thereafter.