The on-demand webcasts will provide detailed discussions of each part of the IASB's May 2015 Exposure Draft, ED/2015/3 Conceptual Framework for Financial Reporting.

The webcast on Chapter 4 — A closer look at liabilities and executory contracts is available today. For information about the upcoming webcasts and a complete archive, see the webcast page on the IASB's website.

On 28 May 2015, the IASB issued two EDs, ED/2015/3and ED/2015/4, forming together a new proposed Conceptual Framework and proposed upates of references to the framework. EFRAG published a document for public consultation on the proposed new Conceptual Framework early in July 2015 and later that month requested to extend the comment period related to the ED. The draft comment letter published now refers to the accompanying proposed amendments to IFRS 2, IFRS 3, IFRS 4, IFRS 6, IAS 1, IAS 8, IAS 34, SIC-27 and SIC-32 in order to update those pronouncements with regard to references to and quotes from the framework so that they refer to the revised Conceptual Framework.

In the draft comment letter EFRAG expresses concerns about possible unintended effects of the proposed amendments and believes that the amendments should remain editorial in nature. It further questions the feasibility and the enforceability of the proposed amendments to IAS 8 as the exclusive link to the conceptual framework may be difficult to establish.

Comments on the draft comment letter are due by 26 October 2015.

For more information, see the press release and draft comment letter on the EFRAG’s website.

In the video interviews IPSASB members from different nations describe the process and share key details, timelines, and lessons learned in their jurisdictions in connection with the adoption of IPSAS. The two new videos are (both links to YouTube):

• A Closer Look at: South Africa
• A Closer Look at: Panama

In January 2015, the IPSASB had already published videos on Brazil, New Zeland, and Switzerland.

Mr. Golden explains the lack of U.S. support for mandating IFRSs:

Perhaps the most important driver of this development is the increased recognition among U.S. stakeholders that legal, regulatory, and cultural differences among and between jurisdictions are likely to result in at least some variation in the way that accounting standards are written, applied in practice and enforced. In short, it has become clear that one size does not fit all.

That said, we at the FASB continue to believe that global accounting standards should be as comparable as possible — and we remain fully committed to the long-term, aspirational goal of developing global accounting standards that have the fewest possible differences.

Mr. Golden cites accounting projects on which the FASB and IASB have converged their guidance (e.g., revenue recognition, business combinations) as examples of how standard setters should collaborate to produce “high-quality, compatible” accounting standards. He further stresses the importance of working with national standard setters, some of whom “continue to permit businesses to choose among a variety of approaches to accounting, including distinct national versions of generally accepted accounting principles.” 

For more information, see "From the Chairman's desk" in the FASB Outlook newsletter on the FASB’s website.

Background

On 11 September 2014, the IASB issued Sale or Contribution of Assets between an Investor and its Associate or Joint Venture (Amendments to IFRS 10 and IAS 28) as result of the work on one of the issues in relation to the transfers of assets between an investor and its associates or joint ventures the IASB was considering. Among the issues that were also considered at that time was the elimination of gains or losses arising from transactions between an entity and its associate or joint venture where an exposure draft (ED) had been announced for November 2014 but was never published. A second attempt at progressing with the issues in the November ED was undertaken in February 2015, now combined with addressing an identified conflict of the September 2014 amendments with IAS 28. However, in June 2015 the IASB decided that it wants to deal with the issues in the February ED more comprehensively as part of its research project on the equity method of accounting. To avoid that entities would need to change the way in which they apply IAS 28 twice in a short period of time the IASB also decided to defer the effective date of the September 2014 amendments until it has finalised amendments, if any, that result from the research project on the equity method.

Suggested changes

The amendments proposed in ED/2015/7 Effective Date of Amendments to IFRS 10 and IAS 28 aim at deferring the effective date of the September 2014 amendments to these standards indefinitely until the research project on the equity method has been concluded. The IASB suggests that earlier application of the September 2014 amendments should continue to be permitted.

Timeframe

Comments on the proposal are requested by 9 October 2015. The IASB will then consider the comments received to decide whether to proceed with this amendment. As the effective date of the 2014 amendments is currently 1 January 2016, the IASB would need to finalise its proposal 31 December 2015 in order to achieve the intended deferral.

Additional information

Please click for:

• IASB press release (link to IASB website)
• Access to the exposure draft on the IASB website
• Deloitte's IFRS in Focus newsletter summarising the ED
• Our IAS Plus project page on the equity method of accounting