March

IFRS Foundation Trustees and Due Process Oversight Committee hold January 2019 meeting

06 Mar 2019

The IFRS Foundation Trustees and the Due Process Oversight Committee (DPOC) met in Kuala Lumpur on 30-31 January 2019.

Meeting activities included the following:

  • Executive session:
    • Report of the Executive Director — The Trustees received a report from the Executive Director Lee White on activities since the last meeting.
    • Strategy review — The Trustees discussed a global environment scan and considered the key strategic themes that now face the Foundation.
    • Governance issues — The Trustees reviewed and approved the business case for improvements to the Foundation’s business process and technology
    • Operations analysis — The Trustees received presentations on the work plan for the Asia-Oceania Office and on the Foundation’s People Strategy.
    • Future meetings — Trustees confirmed that their next meetings would be in Munich in June 2019, New York in October 2019, and Brussels in early 2020.
    • Committee reports — The Trustees discussed reports from the Audit and Finance Committee, the Human Capital Committee, the Nominating Committee, and the DPOC. (A report of the DPOC meeting is attached to the meeting summary.)
  • IASB Chairman’s report — The Chair of the IASB provided the Trustees with a general update on the IASB’s technical activities, especially on IFRS 17 and possible amendments to the standard, the IBOR reform, accounting for goodwill, and primary financial statements.
  • Meetings in Kuala Lumpur — The Trustees met with members of the Asian-Oceanian Standard Setters Group and also discussed the work of the IFRS Foundation Advisory Council with its chair Joanna Perry. They also held a stakeholder dinner which was co-hosted by the Malaysian Accounting Standards Board.

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

IASB to discuss last round of potential amendments to IFRS 17

05 Mar 2019

At its upcoming meeting, the IASB will discuss the last of the 25 concerns regarding the standard that were identified in October 2018 as candidates for potential amendments.

Applying the criteria for evaluating proposed amendments agreed on in October 2018, the staff asks the Board to consider the following recommendations:

Issue identified at the October IASB meeting

Agenda paper with detailed description (link to IASB website)

Staff recommendation

2 — Level of aggregation of insurance contracts Agenda paper 2A
  1. To retain the IFRS 17 requirements on the level of aggregation unchanged
1 — Scope of IFRS 17 Agenda paper 2D
  1. To amend IFRS 17 to exclude from the scope of the standard certain credit card contracts that provide insurance coverage
25 — Transition: Risk mitigation option Agenda paper 2E
  1. To amend the requirements of IFRS 17 to permit an entity to apply the risk mitigation option prospectively from the IFRS 17 transition date
  2. To amend the requirements of IFRS 17 to permit an entity that can apply IFRS 17 retrospectively to a group of insurance contracts with direct participating features to use the fair value transition approach for the group under certain circumstances
1 — Scope of IFRS 17 Agenda paper 2F
  1. To maintain the transition requirements in IFRS 17 for loans that transfer significant insurance risk if an entity elects to apply the requirements in IFRS 17 to a portfolio of such loans
  2. To maintain the transition requirements in IFRS 9 for loans that transfer significant insurance risk if an entity elects to apply the requirements in IFRS 9 to a portfolio of such loans and initially applies IFRS 17 and IFRS 9 at the same time
  3. To amend the transition requirements in IFRS 9 for loans that transfer significant insurance risk if an entity elects to apply the requirements in IFRS 9 to a portfolio of such loans and has applied IFRS 9 before it initially applies IFRS 17
  4. If the Board supports recommendation 3., to amend IFRS 9 to require an entity to apply the transition requirementsin IFRS 9 necessary for applying the proposed amendments
  5. If the Board supports recommendation 3., to permit an entity to newly designate, and to require an entity to revoke its previous designations of, a financial liability under the fair value option at the date the entity first applies the proposed amendments if a new accounting mismatch is created or a previous accounting mismatch no longer exists as a result of applying the proposed amendments
  6. If the Board supports recommendation 3., not to require an entity to restate prior periods to reflect the application of the proposed amendments but to permit an entity to restate prior periods under particular conditions
  7. If the Board supports recommendation 3., to exempt an entity from presenting the quantitative information required by IAS 8.28(f) and to require an entity to disclose specific information in addition to the disclosures that any other IFRS Standard would require
Amendments to disclosure requirements resulting from the Board’s tentative decisions to date Agenda paper 2G
  1. To amend IFRS 17 to require quantitative disclosure of the expected recognition in profit or loss of the contractual service margin remaining at the end of the reporting period and specific disclosure of the approach to assessing the relative weighting of the benefits provided by insurance coverage and investment-related services or investment return service
  2. To amend IFRS 17 to require a reconciliation of the asset created by insurance acquisition cash flows not yet included in the measurement of a group of insurance contracts at the beginning and the end of the reporting period and quantitative disclosure of the expected inclusion of these acquisition cash flows in the measurement of related insurance contracts when the related insurance contracts are recognised
Overall disclosure and transition requirements Agenda paper 2H
  1. To amend IFRS 17 as discussed in Agenda Papers 2E, 2F and 2G and retain all other disclosure and transition requirements in IFRS 17

The staff notes that after its March 2019 meeting, the Board will have considered all 25 topics identified in October 2018. At its April 2019 meeting, the Board plans to consider the package of amendments tentatively decided by the Board as a whole.

Recent sustainability and integrated reporting developments

05 Mar 2019

A summary of recent developments at IIRC, GRI/UN Global Compact, SHCC, ASX, SSE, and TEG.

As part of its ongoing efforts to support report preparers as they adopt and advance integrated reporting in their organisation, the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) has published the IIRC Practice Aid designed to help preparers navigate International <IR> Framework requirements. Please click to access the practice aid on the IIRC website.

The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and the United Nations Global Compact initiative have announced their continued partnership to develop best practices for corporate reporting on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), empowering businesses to prioritize SDG targets and measure and report on progress. Please see the press release on the GRI website for more information.

The Social & Human Capital Coalition (SHCC) launched the Social & Human Capital Protocol. The protocol provides a consistent process to guide businesses as they assess their relationship with social and human capital. It offers an overarching framework for collaborative action to bring together different approaches for social and human capital measurement and valuation and is designed to be used alongside the Natural Capital Protocol to understand the full spectrum of business interactions with people, society and the environment. Please click for more information on the SHCC website.

The Corporate Governance Council of the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) has published a revised Australian Corporate Governance Code, which references the role integrated reporting can play in providing investors with a broader range of information to inform their investment decisions. The Code also notes integrated reporting in the context of disclosure on environmental and social risks and how an entity plans to manage such risks. Please click to access the revised code on the ASX website.

The United Nation's Sustainable Stock Exchanges (SSE) initiative notes that the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) has become an SSE Partner Exchange. Please see the press release on the SSE website for more information.

The European Commission Technical Expert Group (TEG) on sustainable finance is inviting feedback on their preliminary recommendations for an EU green bond and their interim report outlining the status of the work conducted so far. The interim report proposes the content of an EU green bond standard, explains its purpose and sets its ambition level. Please click for more information on the European Commission website.

Final module on the IFRS for SMEs on transition to the standard

04 Mar 2019

The IFRS Foundation has issued the 35th and final stand-alone educational module, which supports the learning, application, and reading of financial statements prepared with the IFRS for SMEs Standard.

The module focuses on the general requirements that a first-time adopter of the IFRS for SMEs follows as specified in Section 35 Transition to the IFRS for SMEs of the IFRS for SMEs.

Please click to access all 35 IFRS for SMEs modules (free registration required).

ESMA continues series of video tutorials on ESEF

04 Mar 2019

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has released the second in a series of tutorial videos designed to guide market participants through the new requirements of European Single Electronic Format (ESEF), which will become effective in 2020.

The new video runs through a range of information about how to use the ESEF and IFRS taxonomies, map concepts from an issuers’ face financials to the base taxonomy, and the basics of the anchoring rules for extending the taxonomy to take account of company-specific concepts.

Please click to access the thirteeen minute video on YouTube.

Agenda for the March 2019 GPF meeting

01 Mar 2019

Representatives from the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) will meet with the Global Preparers Forum (GPF) in London on 22 March 2019. The agenda for the meeting has been released.

The full agenda for the meeting is sum­marised below:

Friday, 22 March 2019 (10:10-15:15)

  • IASB update
  • SMEs that are subsidiaries — Application advice in individual jurisdictions
  • Onerous contracts — Costs of fulfilling a contract (proposed amendments to IAS 37 Provisions, Contingent Liabilities and Contingent Assets)
  • Provisions
  • Man­age­ment com­men­tary
  • Disclosure initiative — Targeted Standards-level review and user outreach summary

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

March 2019 IASB meeting agenda posted

01 Mar 2019

The IASB has posted the agenda for its next meeting, which will be held at its offices in London on 12–14 March 2019. There are ten topics on the agenda.

The Board will discuss the following:

  • Classification of liabilities as current or non-current (amendments to IAS 1)
    • Liabilities with equity-settlement features
    • Lending conditions tested after the reporting period
  • SMEs that are subsidiaries — Project update
  • SME Standard review and update — Relationship between the IFRS for SMEs Standard and full IFRS Standards
  • Financial instruments with characteristics of equity — Key themes emerging from feedback
  • Business combinations under common control
    • Overview of the staff's approach
    • Lenders and other creditors in BCUCC
  • Extractive activities — Feedback summary
  • Primary financial statements
    • Additional proposals on minimum line items
    • Unusual items
  • Amendments to IFRS 17 Insurance Contracts
    • Level of aggregation
    • Credit cards that provide insurance coverage
    • Transition requirements
    • Amendments to disclosure requirements resulting from the Board's tentative decisions to date
    • Implications for disclosure and transition requirements
  • Disclosure initiative
    • Due process steps
  • IBOR reform and the effects on financial reporting
    • Voluntary application and end of relief
    • Due process steps

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

CRD releases paper on SDGs and the future of corporate reporting

01 Mar 2019

The Corporate Reporting Dialogue (CRD), which brings together organisations that have significant international influence on the corporate reporting landscape, has a position paper supporting the development of better reporting guidelines for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Participants of the CRD advocate working together to provide guidance and structure for businesses to be transparent and accountable, and to ensure better decision-making that promote financial stability and sustainable development.

The paper, entitled SDGs and the future of corporate reporting, identifies how corporate reporting can illustrate which SDGs are relevant to a company’s business model, enabling both companies and investors to focus on those SDGs most likely to impact financial performance. The paper also articulates the importance of driving integration of financial and non-financial information to demonstrate how companies create value for stakeholders over the short and long term. In addition, the paper outlines the work that the particpants of the CRD, as framework providers and standard-setters, must undertake to ensure there is guidance for business at the level of the underlying SDG targets and to ensure that businesses are producing meaningful information and indicators.

Please click for the press release and the position paper on the IIRC website.

IPSASB publishes strategy and work plan for 2019-2023

01 Mar 2019

The International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board (IPSASB) has published its strategy and work plan for 2019 through 2023.

The IPSASB’s strategic objective is to strengthen public financial management globally through increasing adoption of accrual-based IPSAS. To achieve this, the IPSASB will develop and maintain IPSAS and other high-quality financial reporting guidance for the public sector and raise awareness of IPSAS and the benefits of accrual adoption. The development of global standards includes setting standards on public sector specific issues, maintaining IFRS alignment, and developing guidance to meet users’ broader financial reporting needs.

Please click for more information and access to the strategy and work plan for 2019-2023 on the IPSASB website.

IASB publishes editorial corrections

01 Mar 2019

The IASB has published its first batch of editorial corrections in 2019.

The new set of editorial corrections contains a retraction and replacement of a previous editorial correction (IFRS 15), a correction of an amendment (Definition of Material (Amendments to IAS 1 and IAS 8)), and a correction to a stand-alone standard (IFRS 2).

Editorial corrections do not change the meaning or application of pronouncements, but instead correct inadvertent errors. The editorial corrections can be viewed on the editorial corrections page of the IASB's website.

Summary of the January 2019 MCCG meeting

01 Mar 2019

The IASB has published a summary of the Management Commentary Consultative Group (MCCG) meeting held on 11 January 2019.

Under the heading of "Performance, position and progress", the MCCG discussed the following:

  • Overall approach
  • Analysis of the financial statements
  • Matters that could affect the entity’s future development

For more information, see the summary on the IASB website.

Correction list for hyphenation

These words serve as exceptions. Once entered, they are only hyphenated at the specified hyphenation points. Each word should be on a separate line.