The outreach will be conducted through structured interviews that should take no longer than 30 minutes.

Please see the press release on the EFRAG website for more information.

This issue features:

• Darrel Scott's perspective on the new information about insurers’ financial performance that will be available when IFRS 17 is applied;
• the unit of account and why the unit of account in IFRS 17 matters to investors, and
• illustrative examples.

For more information, see the press release and Investor Perspectives article on the IASB’s website.

The Climate Disclosure Standards Board (CDSB) has released an updated version of its framework for reporting environmental information, natural capital and associated business impacts, which is now aligned with the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD). The newly-released Framework presents clear links between its principles and reporting requirements with the TCFD recommendations and the supporting recommended disclosures. Please click to access the updated Framework on the CDSB website.

The CDSB and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) have released new research that takes a closer look into opportunities for alignment in sustainability reporting, with a deeper dive into corporate governance requirements across 60 countries, building on the strong need for further harmonisation in this area. Please clickk to access the research report on the CDSB website.

The CDSB and and the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) have released A brief introduction to climate disclosure in France. The publication is part of of the two organisations' series looking at climate disclosure regulations in G20 countries. Please click to access the briefing paper on the CDSB website.

The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and the Responsible Minerals Initiative (RMI) have announced a project to help improve companies’ minerals sourcing due diligence and impact reporting by providing reporting resources and tools based on internationally recognised frameworks. Based on the outcome of the project, the RMI and GRI will develop a consolidated reporting resource for responsible minerals sourcing reporting, and inform the Global Sustainability Standards Board (GSSB). Please see the press release on the GRI website for more information.

An independent taskforce in the UK (Green Finance Taskforce) has produced a report that sets out a series of recommendations on how the government and the private sector can work together to make green finance and integral part of the UK’s financial services. Included within the report are proposals as to how the recommendations of the TCFD should be implemented in the UK. The report is available on the website of the UK Government.

The Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) have published Report on Climate change-related Disclosure Project. The report summarises the findings of the CSA’s project to review the disclosure by reporting issuers of risks and financial impacts associated with climate change and outlines its plans for future work. Please click to access the report the website of the Ontario Securities Commission.

Banking, insurance and non-banking finance companies were exempt from the general roadmap for the adoption of Indian Accounting Standards (Ind AS), which are largely converged with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs), and had been given their own adoption approach with Ind AS adoption beginning from 1 April 2018. However, a Statement on Developmental and Regulatory Policies published by the RBI on 5 April 2018 announced that "it has been decided to defer implementation of Ind AS by one year".

Please click to access the statement on RBI website.

EFRAG has tentatively identified five possible research agenda topics around two main themes:

• Addressing new developments
  • Better information on intangible assets; and
  • Cryptocurrencies;
• Enhancing current financial reporting
  • Derecognition;
  • Transaction-related costs; and
  • Variable and contingent payments.

Responses should be submitted by 1 June 2018. Responses can be submitted by responding to the consultation document or by using an online survey. Both can be accessed through the press release on the EFRAG website.

The short video (two minutes) is part of the IFRS Foundation's efforts to support the implementation of IFRS 17 and describes the three ways pursued in doing so: TRG on IFRS 17, supporting material and education.

For more information, see the press release on the IASB’s website.

The new Japanese GAAP Standard No. 29 Accounting Standard for Revenue Recognition builds on the core principle of IFRS 15 (an entity shall recognise revenue to depict the transfer of promised goods or services to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration to which the entity expects to be entitled in exchange for those goods or services) and the main model to apply the principle (the five step model).

However, the new standard is not identical with IFRS 15 as the ASBJ followed two policies in developing it: (1) Basically, incorporate all IFRS 15 requirements, but (2) consider additional alternative treatments where they would make application easier (cost benefit considerations). The aim was to have a standard that can be more easily applied by companies reporting under Japanese GAAP but to end up with a standard that would not significantly impair international comparability.

Among others, there are departures in the following areas:

• Contract cost accounting is not covered in new standard.
• There are multiple alternative treatments that may be applied instead of requirements that would be applied under IFRS 15. Some are practical expedients for items that are typically expected to be immaterial (minor contract modifications, minor promises, shipping and handling, short-term contracts, maritime shipping, recognition timing for standard domestic sales, etc.), others are exemptions for specific types of transactions (onerous construction/software development contracts, sale and buyback of materials).
• Most of the IFRS 15 disclosure provisions are currently not included. The ASBJ intends develop this section by the time of the effective date of the new standard (fiscal years ending 31 March 2021).

The ASBJ believes that these departures will not significantly hinder international comparability. However, until the standard has been applied by companies and the degree to which they will use the alternative treatsments is known, it is not quite clear what the departures will sum up to in the end.

The new standard and the implementation guidance released with it are only available in the Japanese language. Please click to access them on the ASBJ website.

European enforcers examined the financial statements of about 1,100 issuers representing an average examination rate of 19% of all IFRS issuers with securities listed on regulated markets (2016: 21%). These examinations resulted in 328 actions taken to address material departures from IFRS (2016: 311). As in 2015 and 2016, the main deficiencies were identified in the areas of financial statements presentation, impairment of non-financial assets, and accounting for financial instruments.

Please click to access the full report on the ESMA website.

The Lab is looking to investigate how artificial intelligence and related technologies are, and will be, used in the production and consumption of corporate reporting data.

As part of its Digital future project, the Lab has already:

• released a report setting out a framework for future digital reporting,
• released a report concluding that XBRL (eXtensible Business Reporting Language) is an important technology in the path to digitisation of company reporting, and
• explored the possibilities of Blockchain in the corporate reporting process (report forthcoming).

The Lab will be carrying out the project on artificial intelligence over the summer and aims to produce a report in the autumn.

Please click for the call for participants on the FRC website.