In addition to the completed questionnaire, ESMA has included a cover letter that notes the following points:

• Public financial disclosures should remain focused on depicting economic reality in a neutral way, while avoiding the possibility of giving rise to structuring opportunities.
• The current provisions in IFRS 9 already cater for an adequate depiction of financial instruments. Particularly, the economic characteristics of equity instruments would generally not be adequately reflected by cost-based measurement, especially when current value information is reliable and available.
• Concerns with respect to reported volatility are acknowledged, however, IFRS 9 provides an option to mitigate this volatility.
• It is not yet possible to assess any potential effects of IFRS 9 on long-term investment decisions.
• ESMA is not currently aware that the application of IFRS 9 has caused any obstacles to or provided disincentives to long-term investment decisions.
• Elaborating an alternative accounting model for equity and equity-type instruments, in advance of having identifed evidence of any concrete issues regarding long-term investment arising from the application of IFRS 9, may result in a solution that may ultimately not be effective.

ESMA concludes:

In line with the above-mentioned considerations, at this stage, ESMA does not support any of the alternative accounting solutions illustrated in EFRAG's background document.

Please clickt to access the cover letter and completed questionnaire on the ESMA website.

The manual was originally published by ESMA in December 2017. It is intended to provide guidance on issues commonly encountered when generating Inline XBRL instance documents in compliance with the ESEF Regulation. Following feedback from market participants, ESMA decided to publish a revised version of the manual to expand existing guidance and update the guidance included in the original publication.

Please click to access the updated manual on the ESMA website.

The EFRAG analysis offered an assessment of the potential effects of the proposals in the discussion paper. It could inform and be one of the inputs to a more comprehensive impact analysis if the IASB were to further proceed with the project on financial instruments with characteristics of equity (FICE) in its current form. The early-stage analysis was also a pilot study into the assessment of potential wider effects during the development of new IFRS requirements.

The feedback statement describes the main comments received by EFRAG in response to its analysis.

Please click to access the feedback statement on the EFRAG website.

The Board(s) will discuss the following:

• SME Standard review and update
• Implementation matters: IFRIC Update
• Classification of liabilities as current or non-current (amendments to IAS 1)
• Goodwill and impairment
• Management commentary
• Business combinations under common control
• Segments
• Primary financial statements
• Financial instruments with characteristics of equity
• IBOR reform
• Disclosure initiative
• Implementation of revenue and leases
• Rate regulated activities
• Dynamic risk management

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.

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

The IASB has also been discussing restoring amortisation of goodwill. In December 2017, the Board decided tentatively not to reintroduce amortisation and to focus on improving the impairment model instead. It confirmed this decision at its June 2019 meeting. However, the paper was the most heavily debated paper during the session as improving the impairment model has turned out to be very difficult, and the final decision was very close. The Board finally decided by a vote of 8 to 6 to confirm its preliminary view not to reintroduce amortisation and to retain an impairment-only model.

The FASB's invitation to comment offers a comprehensive analysis of the subsequent accounting for goodwill as well as a comparison with the IASB approach and the approach of the Japanese standard-setter ASBJ.

Comments on the the FASB's invitation to comment are due by 7 October 2019. For more information, please see the press release, a short explanatory video, and the invitation to comment on the FASB website.

The discussion paper Non-exchange transfers: A role for societal benefit? explored the accounting for transfers in which an entity received (or gives) value without directly giving (or receiving) approximately equal value in exchange.

The feedback statement describes the main comments received by EFRAG in response to its discussion paper.

Please click to access the feedback statement on the EFRAG website.

The Growth and Emerging Market Committee (GEMC) of the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) has published a report Sustainable finance in emerging markets and the role of securities regulators, which provides 10 recommendations for emerging market member jurisdictions to consider when issuing regulations or guidance regarding sustainable financial instruments. Among other things, the recommendations include requirements for reporting and disclosure of material Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) specific risks, aimed at enhancing transparency. Please plick to access the report on the IOSCO website.

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) have signed an updated Memorandum of Understanding to reaffirm their commitment to integrating the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into the corporate reporting cycle. Please click to access the press release on the IIRC website.

The IIRC has announced that its Chief Executive Officer Richard Howitt has stepped down after nearly three years’ service. Charles Tilley OBE has been appointed interim CEO. For more information, please see the press release on the IIRC website.

The President of the French standard-setter Autorité des Normes Comptables (ANC), Mr Patrick de Cambourg, has released a report on corporate non-financial reporting, at the request of the French Minister of Economy and Finance. The report entitled Ensuring the relevance and reliability of non-financial corporate information: an ambition and a competitive advantage for a sustainable Europe analyses ways of consolidating the development of extra-financial reporting by companies, so that, in the long run, it gradually takes on a status comparable to that of financial information. The report aims to define the conditions for the development of high-quality extra-financial information. In addition, the report aims to encourage greater harmonisation and comparability of extra-financial information. After an overview of the various existing standards and initiatives, the report assesses the relevance of extra-financial information in terms of quality, reliability, presentation, implementation cost and verifiability, as well as its association with financial data. Please click to access the report on the ANC website.

The UK Government has launched its first Green Finance Strategy, outlining a wide range of actions to support financial system that supports and reaps the opportunities of a low-carbon and environmentally sustainable economy. As part of its strategy, the UK will take action by setting expectations and ensuring a coordinated approach on TCFD, supporting high quality TCFD disclosure and reviewing progress, and building on TCFD to broaden action on transparency. Please click to access the strategy paper on the website of the UK Government.

The Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) has announced the inauguration of a new body called the “TCFD Consortium” as an opportunity for holding discussions on effective corporate information disclosure and efforts for leading disclosed information to appropriate decision making on investment by financial institutes and other entities. The Meti itself, the Financial Services Agency (FSA) and the Ministry of the Environment (MOE) will participate in the consortium as observers. Please click for more information on the METI website.

The Japan Exchange Group (JPX) has published a Japanese translation of the SSE Model Guidance on reporting ESG information to investors and encourages listed companies to make use of this resource. Please click to access the press release and the translation on the SSE website.

The European Court of Auditors (ECA) has published a review taking stock of the status of reporting on the achievement of the SDGs and sustainability at EU level as well as reporting by individual EU institutions and agencies. There is no specific legal obligation for the Commission or other EU institutions to produce sustainability reports. However, since the EU has committed itself to the SDGs and to achieving sustainable development in general, sustainability reporting would be expected to be an integral part of reporting on performance and results. Please click to access the report on the ECA website.

The European Commission welcomes the latest step to drive forward sustainable finance in the EU, with the launch of a call for feedback on a classification system – or “taxonomy” – for environmentally-sustainable economic activities. The consultation is being launched by the Technical Expert Group (TEG) on Sustainable Finance.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has announced that it has again deferred the implementation of Ind AS. According to the notice, the deferment was necessary as amendments to the Banking Regulation Act of 1949 have still not been made. This is the second delay after the new rules were originally scheduled to be implemented by 1 April 2018. The deadline was extended for one year last April, and now the implementation has been deferred without an implementation date being specified, pending new legislation. Therfore, banking, insurance and non-banking finance companies are still exempt from applying Ind AS. Please click for the notice on the RBI website.

The Indian Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) has notified Ind AS 116 Leases, applicable from 1 April 2019. The new standard replaces the existing standard Ind AS 17 Leases and interpretation/guidance contained in its appendices. Ind AS 116 is based on IFRS 16 Leases. Please click to access the notification, which includes the full text of the standard, on the MCA website.

The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) has published the following updated and new publications (all links to the ICAI website):

• Guidance note on Division II - IND AS Schedule III to the Companies Act, 2013 (Revised July 2019 Edition)
• Guidance note on Division I – Non IND AS Schedule III to the Companies Act, 2013 (Revised July 2019 Edition)
• Frequently asked questions on the Companies Act, 2013 (Revised July 2019 Edition)
• Ind AS: Disclosures Checklist for accounting year 2018-19 (Revised May 2019)
• Ind AS Technical Facilitation Group Clarification Bulletin 19

In his speech, Dr Peter lauded the work of the IFRS Foundation/IASB and the German standard-setter DRSC, which he noted has become a strong voice in Europe in recent years.

He then went on to state that BMW decided in 2001 to follow IFRSs and that looking back that was "definitely the right decision" as uniform accounting standards are more valuable today than ever before.

He admitted that such a comprehensive set of rules also raises certain challenges for ongoing business operations and that BMW had to spend a substantial amount of money on personnel and IT costs. And he also noted that not all reported figures are truly comparable and that increasingly earnings are being adjusted permanently for one-time effects - which, as he said, BMW does not do.

Dr Peter also noted while companies are busy implementing new standards, stakeholders' interest in forecasts is increasing - as is the interest in non-financial information. However, he noted, he sees limited possibilities for standardisation in this area.

Concluding his speech, Dr Peter turned to Europe again and noted growing efforts by the European Commission to regulate European companies even more closely and even to discuss the possibility of “EU-IFRS” yet again. He stated:

We firmly believe in the benefits of a globally standardised body of rules — which has always been the core idea of IFRS. For that reason, we oppose the concept of special EU-IFRS. In the volatile global political environment in which we currently find ourselves, it is more important than ever to stress the importance of a common regulatory space. It is easy to forget how far the introduction of common standards has brought us. We now take many of these things for granted.

Please click to access the full transcript of the speech of Dr Peter on the IASB website.