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Joint IFRS Foundation Trustees and Monitoring Board meeting (11:30-13:00)

• Monitoring Board Chairman’s welcome and update
• IFRS Foundation Chairman’s report
• Use of IFRS around the world
• Report of IASB Chair
• Activities of the Due Process Oversight Committee (DPOC)

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Wednesday, 22 January 2014

• Insurance contracts (IASB/FASB)

Thursday, 23 January 2014

• IFRS Interpretations Committee issues
• Amendments to IAS 1
• Leases (IASB/FASB)

You can also access the preliminary and unofficial notes taken by Deloitte observers for the entire meeting. Notes from the remaining sessions will be posted in due course.

The consultation paper focuses on governance and oversight processes in the setting of accounting standards for the public sector and proposes changes to strengthen the position of the IPSASB and IPSASs. The consultation paper includes:

• Background of the IPSASB.
• Existing standard setting models.
• The oversight and governance of the IPSASB.
• Proposal for strengthening the IPSASB’s governance.
• Specific questions to consider.

Among the specific questions is the following:

The Governance Review Group consists of members from the World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF), Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Financial Stability Board (FSB), the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) and the International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI). 

Comments are due by 30 April 2014. The Review Group will meet in spring of 2014 to discuss the feedback received and will finalise the recommendations by the end of 2014.

For more information, see the press release and consultation paper on the OECD website.

EFRAG and ASBJ discussed the following topics:

• Conceptual framework.
• Financial instruments.
• Leases.
• Insurance contracts.
• Research activities, including impairment and amortisation of goodwill with the Organismo Italiano di Contabilità.

Further, the EFRAG and ASBJ agreed that continued mutual cooperation on accounting issues and potential concerns will enhance their viewpoints when deliberating with the ASAF or other national standard setters.

The next meeting between the EFRAG and ASBJ will be held in Brussels.

A press release is available on the EFRAG website.

This ASU affects operating entities that enter into service concession contracts with a public-sector entity grantor to operate the grantor’s infrastructure to provide a public service. It is effective for public business entities with fiscal years beginning after 15 December 2014, and interim periods therein. For entities that are not public business entities, the guidance becomes effective for annual periods beginning after 15 December 2014, and interim periods beginning after 15 December 2015. Early adoption is permitted.

For more information, see Deloitte's Accounting Journal Entry and ASU 2014-05 on the FASB’s website.

The agendas for the meetings are reproduced below:

Agenda papers for the meetings are available on the IASB's website.

The possible need for International Financial Reporting Standards to include a disclosure requirement for a net debt reconciliation arose from the feedback from the disclosure forum and had earlier been considered in the financial statement presentation project. In the Feedback Statement from the disclosure forum, the IASB noted the following:

Over the last five years investors have consistently asked the IASB to introduce a requirement that entities must disclose and explain their net debt reconciliation. This is an example where users think that adding a requirement might reduce clutter by specifying about how debt information should be disclosed.

At its October 2013 meeting, the IASB discussed the possibility of including disclosures about 'net debt' as part of possible short term amendments to IAS 1 Presentation of Financial Statements. The IASB decided not to include any proposals on net debt in the short-term amendments to IAS 1, but instead consider this matter separately within another part of the IASB's overall disclosure initiative project. As this meeting, IASB members also noted a possible need for transparency about cash, any restrictions on cash, and tax effects on cash.

Following on from these discussions, the publication survey responds to constituent feedback from investors and analysts "that they would like more information about period-on-period changes in debt to be included in audited financial statements" and is designed to assist the IASB in identifying specific information needs and how the information is used.

The survey explores topics such as:

• Whether investors and analysts consider debt in the analysis of an entity and how such information is used
• Whether understanding the reasons for period-on-period movements in debt is important, and if so, whether analysis is undertaken on total debt, key components, or both, and whether non-cash movements are considered
• Feedback on the adequacy of information currently provided by entities and where information about debt should be provided (e.g. management commentary, financial statements, presentations)
• Whether debt should be defined in IFRS, even if this increased the complexity and timeline of any possible IASB project
• Experience with significant restrictions and/or cost to an entity from an ability to access or move cash, where such information is currently derived if available, and whether this aspect should be considered in any project

The survey includes a table illustrating a possible period-on-period movement in debt (noting that this is not currently specifically required by IFRS), which is reproduced below:

The survey closes on 21 February 2014 and can be accessed on the Investor resources page on the IASB's website.

More information about the issues is set out below:

You can access all our comment letters to the International Accounting Standards Board, IFRS Foundation, and IFRS Interpretations Committee here.

The Committee will:

• Continue discussion on a number of issues related to IAS 12, IAS 19, IFRS 10 and IFRS 11
• Consider finalising tentative agenda decisions on IAS 29 and IAS 32
• Consider a broad range of new issues on various standards (IAS 1, IAS 12, IAS 16, IAS 28, IAS 32, IAS 34, IAS 37, IFRS 3, IFRS 10)
• Discuss feedback from the IASB on the Committee's recommendations about disclosure requirements about an assessment of going concern.

The full agenda for the meeting, as of 20 January 2014, can be found here.  We will update this page for any changes to the agenda, and our Deloitte observer notes from the meeting as they become available.