The feedback received indicated that there is a need for a global set of internationally recognised sustainability reporting standards and for the IFRS Foundation to play a role in the development of these standards. The Trustees decided to conduct additional analysis on the feedback received on the requirements for success and will create a Trustee Steering Committee to oversee the project.

The Trustees are aiming to issue a proposal and establish a timeline by the end of September 2021 and may announce the establishment of a sustainability standards board at the United Nations Climate Change Conference COP26 in November 2021. 

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

Submissions are invited under three broad themes (studies combining two or all themes are especially welcome):

1. Compliance with mandatory disclosure requirements;
2. Specific areas of interest to the IASB;
3. Alternative research approaches.

This website offers more information on possible topics under each theme, which for the specific areas of interest to the IASB include:

• New standards and disclosure requirements,
• Targeted standards-level review of disclosures,
• Role of materiality in high quality disclosure and the impact of guidance on materiality,
• Financial reporting and narrative disclosures, and
• Taxonomy and benefits of tagged financial statements.

Authors are invited to submit their draft papers by 31 January 2022. It is expected that accepted papers will be published during the first half of 2023. Accepted papers will be highlighted on the website of the IFRS Foundation. Also, the initiative is linked to a workshop at the University of Glasgow. Papers presented there will be earlier drafts of the papers to be published.

New members will start on 1 January 2022 for a term of three years, renewable once for a further three years. For more in­for­ma­tion, see the press release on the IASB website.

IFRS 16 and COVID-19: The amendments to IFRS 16 the IASB made in relation to rent concessions and COVID-19 provided a practical expedient that applied to rent concessions for which any reduction in lease payments affects only payments originally due on or before 30 June 2021. The staff is recommending that the IASB extend that to 30 June 2022. The staff recommend retrospective application, but note that for a lessee that has applied the initial expedient, it is possible that they may be required to reverse lease modification accounting for rent concessions that did not qualify because of the original time limit. If the IASB approves a 14-day comment period the staff think they can publish final amendments by the end of March 2021.

Our pre-meet­ing summary is available on our February supplementary meeting notes page and will be sup­ple­mented with our popular meeting notes after the meeting.

The paper notes that the current coronavirus epidemic has created a significant layer of uncertainty which has permeated all markets. While this is not necessarily just confined to the basis of market value, however, it still raises its own specific challenges:

• How does the valuer quantify market value with a lack of market comparable information in the new COVID-19 world?
• Where market comparable information is available, have the parties ‘acted knowledgeably, prudently and without compulsion’?
• Does a pandemic environment enable parties to undertake ‘proper marketing’ or do sales that are witnessed in the early stages of such an event represent an environment comprised of overly willing sellers and opportunistic buyers that is more aligned with a liquidation market?

Please click to access the perspectives paper on the IVSC website.

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

The podcast discusses:

• Feedback on consultation paper Exposure Draft General Presentation and Disclosures
• Disclosure Initiative—Subsidiaries that are SMEs project
• Board’s current work plan
• Exposure Draft Regulatory Assets and Regulatory Liabilities
• Upcoming consultation on Disclosure Initiative—Targeted Standards-level Review of Disclosures.

The podcast (16 minutes) can be accessed through the press release on the IASB website.

The detailed notes taken by Deloitte observers at the meeting are available here.

Below is an analysis of all changes made to the work plan since our last analysis on 18 December 2020.

Stan­dard-set­ting projects

• Disclosure initiative — Subsidiaries that are SMEs — The IASB decided to publish an exposure draft (and not a discussion paper), which is expected in the second half of 2021.
• Disclosure initiative — Targeted standards-level review of disclosures — The exposure draft on this project is now expected in March 2021 (previously Q1 2021).
• Financial instruments with characteristics of equity — This project is now correctly listed as a standard-setting project.
• Primary financial state­ments — The Board decided to move forward with the project and a new Standard is stated as the next milestone; however, no timeline is given.
• Rate-regulated activities — The Board published an exposure draft on 28 January 2021 and discussion of the feedback received is expected to begin in the second half of the 2021.

Main­te­nance projects

• Lack of exchangeability (Amendments to IAS 21) — An exposure draft is now expected in March 2021 (previously Q1 2021).
• Lease liability in a sale and leaseback — Discussion of the feedback received on the exposure draft is expected to begin in the second quarter of 2021 (previously H1 2021).

Research projects

• Goodwill and impairment — Discussion of the feedback received on the discussion paper is now expected to begin in March 2021 (previously Q1 2021).
• Second comprehensive review of the IFRS for SMEs Standard — A decision on the project direction is now expected in March 2021 (previously Q1 2021).

Other projects

• IFRS Taxonomy Update — Amendments to IAS 1, IAS 8 and IFRS Practice Statement 2 — The next milestone is now correctly identified as "Proposed IFRS Taxonomy Update" again; the proposed update is now expected in second quarter of 2021 (previously February 2021).
• IFRS Taxonomy Update — Amendments to IFRS 17, IFRS 4 and IAS 16 — An IFRS Taxonomy Update is now expected in March 2021 (previously Q1 2021).
• Sustainability Reporting — The date for the discussion of the feedback received on the Trustees' consultation paper has been removed, however, the IASB website reveals that the Trustees will begin discussing the feedback on 1 February 2021.
• Third Agenda Consultation — This is the new name of the 2020 Agenda Consultation project; a request for information is now expected in March 2021 (previously Q1 2021).

The above is a faithful com­par­i­son of the IASB work plan at 18 December 2020 and 29 January 2021. For access to the current IASB work plan at any time, please click here.

Agenda decision to finalise

IFRS 10 Consolidated Financial Statements and IFRS 16 Leases—Sale and Leaseback of an Asset in a Single-asset Entity: In September 2020, the Committee discussed the applicability of the sale and leaseback requirements in IFRS 16 to a transaction in which an entity sells its equity interest in a subsidiary that holds only a real estate asset and then leases that real estate asset back. The staff concluded that IFRS 10:25 and B97-B99 apply to the accounting for the loss of control of the subsidiary and IFRS 16:100(a) applies for measuring of the right of use (ROU) asset and the gain on the leaseback arrangement. However, most of respondents from the outreach performed suggested adding a standard-setting project because the requirements in IFRS Standards do not provide an adequate basis to support the analysis and conclusion. The staff, therefore, asked the Committee whether it wants to finalise the tentative agenda decision or whether an amendment to IFRS 10 is required.

New issues

IAS 2 Inventories—Cost necessary to sell inventories: Which costs should an entity include as part of the estimated costs necessary to make the sale when determining the net realisable value of inventories?

The staff recommend publishing a tentative agenda decision stating that an entity includes all costs needed to make the sale, instead of only including additional costs required by the particular conditions of the inventories to make the sale.

IAS 10 Events after the Reporting Period—Preparation of Financial Statements when an Entity is No Longer a Going Concern: Can an entity prepare financial statements for prior periods on a going concern basis if it was a going concern in those periods and had not previously prepared financial statements for those periods? And if it had previously prepared financial statements for the preceding period on a going concern basis, is it required to restate comparative information in respect of the preceding period to reflect the basis of accounting used in preparing the current period's financial statements? IFRS Standards are silent on both matters.

The staff recommend not to add the matter to the Committee’s standard-setting agenda as the matter is not widespread and there is no evidence of diversity in practice.

Work in progress: The staff are analysing requests related to the accounting of warrants that are initially classified as liabilities and non-refundable value-added tax on lease payments.

The full agenda for the meeting and our com­pre­hen­sive pre-meet­ing summaries can be found here.

Their discussions will consider approval of a shortened comment period for a potential exposure draft of an amendment to IFRS 16 Leases, extending operational relief to lessees in accounting for COVID-19-related rent concessions, and initial analysis of responses to the Trustees’ consultation paper on sustainability reporting.

An agenda paper on the comment period is available on the IASB website.