In its draft comment letter, EFRAG welcomes IASB's efforts and approach addressing both own-use exception requirements as well as hedge accounting requirements. 

• EFRAG generally supports the narrow scope of the exposure draft, but notes that the proposed scope is currently limited to the contracts containing a ‘pay-as-produced’ feature, whereas a wide variety of contracts contain other features that pose similar application issues.
• EFRAG agrees with the direction of the proposals on what an entity should consider when assessing if the contracted electricity is consistent with the entity's expected purchase or usage requirements, but does foresee application challenges.
• EFRAG welcomes the IASB’s thorough approach distinguishing the considerations for sellers and purchasers when proposing the hedge accounting requirements for the contracts in scope of the exposure draft.
• EFRAG suggests that proposed disclosure requirements should apply only to contracts within the scope of the exposure draft qualifying for the own-use exception.

Comments on EFRAG's draft comment letter are requested by 15 July 2024. For more information, see the press release and the draft comment letter on the EFRAG website.

The paper explores the topic of valuation inspections and considers the benefits and challenges associated with various types of inspections, including traditional physical inspections and technology-based virtual assessments. It is intended to support the valuation community by offering insights and practical guidance on navigating the complexities of asset inspections, thereby ensuring the reliability and accuracy of valuations.

Please click to access the paper through the press release on the IVSC website.

The standard is being developed with support of the World Bank, an institution dedicated to providing financing, policy advice and technical assistance to governments of developing countries. It is intended to increase transparency, and to enable governments and other public sector entities to make more informed decisions about their contributions towards addressing the climate emergency, hold them accountable for their interventions and foster trust in their efforts.

The IPSASB has also published a stakeholder engagement plan outlining how stakeholders can provide feedback about the project, through mechanisms that are already a central part of the IPSASB’s due process.

Please click for more information in the press release on the IPSASB website.

In particular, the Monitoring Board commended the finalisation of the Inaugural Jurisdictional Guide for the adoption or other use of ISSB Standards in May 2024, which shows the different ways to adopt, apply or make use of sustainability-related disclosures. The Monitoring Board also acknowledged the usefulness of consistency, comparability and interoperability of sustainability-related information to help investors and the ISSB’s capacity-building efforts as jurisdictions consider incorporation of climate-related and other disclosures in their corporate reporting regimes.

The Monitoring Board will continue to collaborate with the IFRS Foundation Trustees to ensure that IFRS standards are developed under robust governance, due process and oversight while ensuring independence in the boards’ individual standard-setting activities.

As for the broad strategies of the IFRS Foundation, the Monitoring Board reaffirmed that stable and diversified funding should be achieved in a transparent manner in support of the IASB's and the ISSB's activities. The Monitoring Board also noted the importance of connectivity between the two boards.

Please click to see more information in the press release on the IOSCO website.

Phase 1 foresees voluntary adoption and implementation of the ISSB standards for the accounting period beginning on or after 1 January 2024, which is the effective date of the ISSB standards.

Phase 2 will see mandatory adoption from 1 January 2027 for significant public interest entities (SPIEs) and from 1 January 2028 for other mandatory adopters (OMAs). The definition of SPIEs includes listed entities, regulated banks, insurance and pension companies, and public listed companies. It also includes the resource sector, energy sector, cement and auto manufacturers, and renewable power generating companies. OMAs are defined as all other companies incorporated under the Ghana Companies Act except those classified as SPIEs, government organisations and non-mandatory companies.

Phase 3 concerns the adoption of sustainability reporting standards for public sector entities and applies to government and not-for-profit organisations. ICAG will review and decide on the mandatory adoption date when such standards are issued by the International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board (IPSASB).

All transition reliefs in IFRS S1 and IFRS S2 will be available and the sustainability information must be presented in the annual report, before the audited financial statements.

Assurance will be required using ISSA 5000, however the level of assurance remains unspecified. The roadmap states that obtaining assurance on sustainability disclosures in the first year of adoption is voluntary, becoming mandatory from the second year.

For more information, please see the roadmap on the ICAG website.

They will succeed Guy Jones, Goro Kumagai and Jon Nelson, respectively. The new Committee members will start their three-year terms on 1 July 2024.

Please see the press release on the IFRS Foundation website for more information and the biographical background of the newly appointed members.

The proposed changes relate to disclosures in the following areas:

• Employment: non-standard forms of employment, apprentices and internships, fair recruitment, performance management, personal data protection and privacy, employment termination, and hiring and turnover metrics.
• Remuneration and working time: includes policies and metrics of cost-of-living estimates, basic gender pay gap, and social protection coverage.
• Significant changes for workers: consultation and notice periods to workers’ representatives, redeployment, up-skilling and re-skilling, and termination of employment.

According to the press release, the proposed changes are seeking greater transparency on employment practices and working conditions by addressing policies on employment relationships, pay and working hours, and how businesses handle significant changes for workers.

The revisions represent phase one of three in GRI’s labour project. Phase two will address working life and career development, while phase three will focus on workers’ rights and protections. Overall, 11 GRI standards will be revised as part of the project, guided by the human rights-based approach and due diligence.

Please click to access more information, including links to the consultation documents and two webinars taking place on 20 and 25 June, in the press release on the GRI website.

Finalisation of agenda decision—IFRS 8 Operating Segments—Disclosure of Revenues and Expenses for Reportable Segments: In its November 2023 meeting, the IFRS IC discussed a submission about the application of IFRS 8:23 which requires an entity to report a measure of profit or loss for each reportable segment and to disclose specified amounts for each reportable segment. The staff concluded that i) an entity is required to disclose the specified amounts in IFRS 8:23(a)-(i) for each reportable segment if those amounts are included in the measure of segment profit or loss or regularly provided to the chief operating decision maker (CODM); and ii) in applying IFRS 8:23(f) by disclosing, for each reportable segment, material items of income and expense disclosed, entities determine what is considered “material” in accordance with IAS 1. In the November 2023 meeting, IFRS IC members agreed with i) above but raised their concerns on ii).

27 comment letters were received. Most of them agreed with the conclusion in i) above. However, the majority disagreed with the interpretation in ii). The staff continued to agree with the analysis in the tentative agenda decision with further explanation and recommends finalising the agenda decision, with some suggested changes.

Initial consideration—IAS 7 Statement of Cash Flows— Classification of Cash Flows related to Margin Calls on “Collateralised-to-Market” Contract: The IFRS IC received a submission about whether an entity presents, in the statement of cash flows, the cash flows related to variation margin call payments on contracts to purchase or sell commodities at a predetermined price in the future as cash flows from activities other than operating or operating activities. The staff concluded that the fact pattern described is unlikely to become widespread and/or have a material effect in the future and decided to publish a tentative agenda decision to explain the reasons for not adding a standard-setting project.

IFRS IC input to IASB projects:

Intangible Assets: A research project on intangible assets has recently been added to the IASB’s work plan. In the initial phase of the project, the IASB would like to seek input on the problem that it is trying to solve, the scope of the project and how best to stage work to deliver timely improvements. The IASB therefore seeks the IFRS IC’s input on those areas.

Business Combinations—Disclosures, Goodwill and Impairment: The purpose of this session is to seek the IFRS IC’s views on three aspects (i.e. identifying strategic business combinations, exemption and impairment test) of the IASB’s proposals included in the Exposure Draft Business Combinations—Disclosures, Goodwill and Impairment.

The full agenda for the meeting and our com­pre­hen­sive pre-meet­ing summaries can be found here.

The following topic is on the agenda:

SASB standards maintenance: The ISSB will discuss the criteria that could be used for assessing the priority of the workstreams focused on enhancing the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) standards. ISSB members will be asked for feedback on the staff’s analysis, including whether the ISSB should place particular emphasis on any of the criteria. No decisions will be made.

Our pre-meeting summaries are available on our June meeting notes page and will be supplemented with our popular meeting notes after the meeting.

In the new publication series, Accountancy Europe summarises the requirements of the ESRS and shares views on aspects that merit further guidance and clarification. Where applicable, the publications incorporate EFRAG guidelines, but Accountancy Europe has not interpreted or provided guidance on any of the matters.

Please click to access the press release on the Accountancy Europe website, which includes a link to the first publication in the series.