February

FEE briefing paper on the endorsement of IFRS 9

08 Feb 2016

The Federation of European Accountants (Fédération des Experts-comptables Européens, FEE) has prepared a short briefing paper with additional answers to some of the questions asked by Members of the European Parliament of the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee (ECON) during recently-held two public hearings on the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) broadly , and on IFRS 9 'Financial Instruments' specifically.

The first hearing took place on 1 December 2015 and featured an introduction by the ECON Chair Roberto Gualtieri followed by short presentations by four invited experts. The presentations were followed by a joint discussion with ECON members.

The second hearing took place on 11 January 2016. IASB Chairman Hans Hoogervorst gave a short presentation of the current work of the IASB. Afterwards, he and Michel Prada, Chairman of the IFRS Foundation Trustees, answered questions of the ECON members.

The FEE paper summarising the statements and providing addition anwers can be downloaded from their website.

Interview with IPSASB Chair

08 Feb 2016

The International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board (IPSASB) has released an interview with Ian Carruthers who took office as new IPSASB Chair on 1 January 2016.

In the interview, Mr Carruthers talks about the IPSASB and the importance of International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) for transparency and accountability in public sector financial management. Please click to access the recording on the IPSASB website.

February 2016 IASB meeting agenda posted

05 Feb 2016

The IASB has posted the agenda for its next meeting, which will be held at its offices in London on 16–17 February 2016.

The meeting will feature discussions on:

  • Insurance contracts — whether to grant permission to begin the balloting process or whether it considers that it needs to re-expose the new insurance contracts Standard.
  • Goodwill and impairment.
  • IFRS implementation issues — IFRIC Update.
  • Financial instruments with characteristics of equity — current and next steps.

The full agenda for the meeting can be found here. We will post any updates to the agenda, as well as our Deloitte pre-meet­ing summaries and observer notes from the meeting, on this page as they become available.

 

IFRS Foundation Trustees hold January 2016 meeting

05 Feb 2016

The IFRS Foundation Trustees met in London on 26–28 January 2016.

Meeting ac­tiv­i­ties included the following:

  • Executive session — The Trustees discussed a number of important strategic issues:
    • Review of structure and effectiveness of the IFRS Foundation — The Trustees reviewed (1) the progress of the review of structure and effectiveness of the IFRS Foundation and (2) the comments received on the request for views. Topics discussed included relevance of IFRS Standards, consistent application, governance and financing.  
    • Strategic Plan 2016 — The Trustees discussed specific actions and activities for 2016.
    • Working with National Standard-Setters and regional bodies — The Trustees decided on three goals: (1) to maintain effective relationships and communication with NSS and regional bodies, (2) promote consistent application of IFRS from NSS and regional bodies, and (3) work together with NSS and regional bodies on the Technical Work Programme.
    • Other issues.
    • Committee reports — The Trustees discussed reports from the Audit and Finance Committee, Human Capital Committee, and the Nominating Committee.
  • IASB Chairman’s report — The Chair of the IASB provided the Trustees with an update on a number of the IASB’s technical ac­tiv­i­ties.
    • Major projects — The IASB chair discussed its recently issued leases standard, the end of deliberations in the insurance contracts project, and the different effective dates of IFRS 9 and new insurance contracts standard.
  • Report of the Due Process Oversight Committee (DPOC) — The Trustees received a report about the DPOC’s January 2016 meeting. For more in­for­ma­tion, see our related news item.
  • Investors in financial reporting event — The IFRS Foun­da­tion, with the CFA Institute, hosted an event 'Investors in Financial Reporting’.

The full report on the IFRS Foun­da­tion trustees’ meeting is available on the IASB’s website.

Due Process Oversight Committee holds January 2016 meeting

05 Feb 2016

The Due Process Oversight Committee (DPOC) met in London on 26 January 2016.

Meeting ac­tiv­i­ties included the following:

  • Updates on technical ac­tiv­i­ties — The DPOC was presented with a report that outlined the due process ac­tiv­i­ties for all projects on the IASB’s current agenda. Specifically, the DPOC discussed (1) revenue recognition and the plan not to schedule additional TRG meeting, (2) agenda consultation, and (3) other projects on the disclosure initiative and dynamic risk management.
  • Insurance contracts — The DPOC was updated on the progress made to this project and reviewed papers that will be presented in February’s IASB meeting.
  • Leases: Quality control — The DPOC was presented with the process from giving permission to ballot the leases standard to finalizing it.
  • Review of Con­sul­ta­tive group — The DPOC reviewed the activities of various con­sul­ta­tive groups (e.g., the TRG, the ITG, and the ITCG).
  • Cor­re­spon­dence — No new cor­re­spon­dence has been received since the DPOC’s previous meeting.

The full report on the DPOC meeting is available on the IASB’s website.

Agenda for the February 2016 IFRS Advisory Council meeting

05 Feb 2016

An agenda has been released for the upcoming meeting of the IFRS Advisory Council, which is being held in London on 23-24 February 2016. Highlights of the meeting will be thorough discussions of the Review of structure and effectiveness of the IFRS Foundation and of the Future of corporate reporting.

A summary of the agenda is set out below:

Tuesday 23 February 2016

Morning session (09:15-12:00)

  • Welcome and Chairman's preview
  • IASB and IFRS Foundation activities
  • Approach to post-implementation reviews

Afternoon session (13:00-17:30)

  • Trustee activities
  • Review of structure and effectiveness of the IFRS Foundation – selected governance issues
    • Break-out session
  • Future of corporate reporting – creating the dynamics for change
  • Review of structure and effectiveness of the IFRS Foundation – report back from break-out session

Wednesday 24 February 2016

Morning session (09:30-12:30)

  • Future of corporate reporting – climate change
    • Break-out session
  • Conceptual framework

Afternoon session (13:30-15:30)

  • Future of corporate reporting – report back from break-out sessions
  • Members' communications
  • Sum up discussions

Agenda papers for the meeting will be available in due course on the IASB website.

EU endorsement of IFRS 9 now expected in the second half of 2016

04 Feb 2016

The European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG) has published an updated endorsement status report indicating the EU endorsement of IFRS 9 'Financial Instruments' is now expected in the second half of 2016.

So far, the report had stated that endorsement of IFRS 9 is expected in the first half of 2016. The deferral is a result of deadlines within the European endorsement process and is not primarily technically motivated.

Please click to access the updated status report.

IFAC report on global regulation

04 Feb 2016

The International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) has issued a report calling for political leaders and governments around the world to follow ten principles for consistent, high-quality global regulation, to aid global economic growth.

While business and finance are increasingly global, the report warns that important regulation is not. Instead, it is frequently focused on national interests, which can create barriers and impediments to inclusive growth and jeopardise global financial stability. It states:

In the years since the financial crisis, regulation — and, as a result, the work required to manage global investment, finance, and financial reporting — has increased exponentially. Recent reforms [...] have often taken a prescriptive approach, focusing on detailed procedures, processes, and compliance rather than outcomes — and uniformly applying sometimes inappropriate solutions to a broad range of companies.

The ten principles for high quality financial regulation state that regulation needs to be evidence-based, proportionate, appropriately resourced, collaboratively developed/implemented, consistent, subject to active oversight, systematically reviewed, have clear objectives, and be properly targeted and enforced to address intended issues.

Please click to access the report From Crisis to Confidence: A Call for Consistent, High-Quality Global Regulation and a corresponding press release on the IFAC website.

IPSASB proposes revisions to the cash basis IPSAS

04 Feb 2016

The International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board (IPSASB) has released for comment Exposure Draft ED 61 'Amendments to Financial Reporting under the Cash Basis of Accounting'.

The IPSASB's cash basis standard Financial Reporting Under the Cash Basis of Accounting (unnumbered, January 2003) establishes requirements for the preparation and presentation of a statement of cash receipts and payments and supporting accounting policy notes. It also includes encouraged disclosures that enhance the cash basis report. The primary role of the standard in the IPSASB’s overall standard-setting strategy is to work as a stepping stone to adoption of accrual IPSAS.

ED 61 proposes to revise certain requirements and to recast them as encouragements. The ED also proposes amendments to ensure that the existing requirements and encouragements of the standard are better aligned with the equivalent accrual IPSAS, unless there is a reason to deviate as a result of adopting the cash basis of accounting.

Please click to access the press release and ED 61 on the IPSASB website. Comments are requested by 31 July 2016.

IASB website available again

03 Feb 2016

The IASB website, which had been down for three days as a result of a major hardware failure at its hosting provider, is available again.

The eIFRs section and the web shop are fully functional again, the news section has been restored to the state of 19 January 2016 and will be available in full shortly. We are proud that the IASB used IAS Plus to communicate with their readers when their website was down.

IASB website currently not available

01 Feb 2016

The IASB has asked us to post the following information.

"The IFRS Foundation website (including all IASB matters) is currently down as a result of a major hardware failure at its hosting provider. They are working to restore the system as quickly as possible, but this is likely to take at least 24 hours."

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