2021

Strong support for ISSB at IOSCO roundtables

11 May 2021

To support its work on securities issuers’ sustainability-related disclosures, the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) hosted two roundtables in April and May 2021. The objective was to engage in a dialogue with global stakeholders on IOSCO’s priorities to enhance the reliability, comparability and consistency of sustainability-related disclosures and collect views on the practical implementation of a global system architecture for these disclosures.

Participants of the roundtables emphasised the importance of continuing the pace and building on the existing momentum to deliver the urgent improvements needed in sustainability reporting and especially supported establishing an International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) under the IFRS Foundation. There was a clear willingness among participants to work collaboratively with IOSCO and the IFRS Foundation to deliver this vision. There was also broad-based agreement that, building on existing initiatives, the ISSB would be able to deliver high-quality international sustainability-related reporting standards in a timely manner. Roundtable participants also identified some important matters for IOSCO to consider before recommending to its members that ISSB standards be used for cross-border offerings or when setting sustainability reporting requirements at the domestic level.

A report of the key messages received during the roundtables is now available on the IOSCO website.

EFRAG draft comment letter on the IASB's exposure draft on disclosure requirements in IFRSs

11 May 2021

The European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG) has issued a draft comment letter on the IASB exposure draft ED/2021/31 'Disclosure Requirements in IFRS Standards — A Pilot Approach (Proposed amendments to IFRS 13 and IAS 19)'.

The exposure draft contains proposed guidance for the IASB when developing and drafting disclosure requirements in IFRSs in future as well as proposed amendments to IFRS 13 Fair Value Measurement and IAS 19 Employee Benefits that result from applying the proposed guidance to those standards.

In its draft comment letter EFRAG

  • supports the objective of the project to improve the relevance of disclosures and to develop a more rigorous methodology for the IASB to define objective-based disclosure requirements;
  • agrees, in particular, with the proposal to work closer with users of financial statements and other stakeholders early in the standard-setting process;
  • notes that the proposed approach introduces a radical change from the existing guidance by making minimum requirements an exception and is concerned that it would expose preparers to second guessing, would make review of such disclosures and enforcement of the requirements more difficult for auditors and regulators and may ultimately not lead to the intended changes and improvement to information relevance;
  • encourages the IASB to further consider the interactions between its proposed approach and several other aspects.

Comments on EFRAG's draft comment letter are requested by 15 October 2021. For more information, see the press release and the draft comment letter on the EFRAG website.

The press release also notes that EFRAG will conduct field-testing of the IASB proposals and will issue shortly an invitation for companies to participate in its field test activities. The IASB also recently announced that it will conduct field-testing of its ED.

We comment on the IASB's post-implementation review of IFRS 10, IFRS 11, and IFRS 12

10 May 2021

We have responded to the IASB's post-implementation review IFRS 10 ‘Consolidated Financial Statements’, IFRS 11 ‘Joint Arrangements’, IFRS 12 ‘Disclosure of Interests in Other Entities’.

Overall, we believe that these standards provide sound principles and relevant guidance supporting the judgements required to represent faithfully an entity’s interests in subsidiaries and joint arrangements. Except for the certain issues noted in the response, we believe that no significant changes are required to the relevant standards. We have indicated in our responses to the various questions in the PIR areas that may benefit from clarifications and/or additional illustrative examples.

Please click to access the full comment letter.

IFRS Foundation announces webinar series on disclosure requirements in IFRS Standards proposals

10 May 2021

The IFRS Foundation have announced a series of webinars on IASB exposure draft ‘Disclosure Requirements in IFRS Standards — A Pilot Approach’.

In March 2021, the IASB issued the ED which contains proposed guidance for itself when developing and drafting disclosure requirements in IFRSs in future as well as proposed amendments to IFRS 13 Fair Value Measurement and IAS 19 Employee Benefits that result from applying the proposed guidance to those standards. The first webcast is scheduled for 19 May 2021 and will provide an overview of the Board’s proposals. For the con­ve­nience of par­tic­i­pants from different time zones, there will be two sessions of the webinar both dis­cussing the same topics:

  • Wednesday 19 May 2021, 09:00–10:00 BST and
  • Wednesday 19 May 2021, 15:00–16:00 BST.

Each session will last a maximum of 60 minutes and include a moderated ques­tion-and-an­swer session.

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

IOSCO Vice Chair explains why and how IOSCO supports the sustainability initiative of the IFRS Foundation Trustees

10 May 2021

At the high-level conference "Proposal for a Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive - The Way Forward" hosted by the European Commission on 6 May 2021, Jean-Paul Servais, Vice Chair of the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) and Chair of the IFRS Foundation Monitoring Board explained why IOSCO believes in the IFRS Foundation Trustees’ sustainability initiative and what IOSCO will do to support it.

Mr Servais began his speech by explaining how financial markets and their regulators are a part of the solution to ensure the financial system is resilient in the face of climate-related risks and to support the transition to a sustainable economy. For the financial markets to play their role, the disclosure of comprehensive and comparable sustainability-related disclosure would be of paramount importance and since there are currently wide gaps in the disclosure requirements, the public authorities would need to step in.

He then discussed why and how IOSCO is involved:

  1. IOSCO is involved because enterprise value reporting is part of its mandate to promote investor protection and IOSCO’s members can enforce sustainability reporting and help prevent greenwashing by market participants.
  2. IOSCO is also involved because of its role in the oversight of the governance of the IFRS Foundation and will monitor the governance implications of the IFRS Trustees’ proposals on sustainability.
  3. And IOSCO can play a critical role in adding momentum to the IFRS initiative and in fostering endorsement of the new standards around the world.

Mr Servais stressed that IOSCO encourages a “building blocks” approach to establishing a global sustainability reporting system and limiting undue fragmentation as much as possible. By working with standard-setters from key jurisdictions, the new IFRS sustainability board’s standards would provide a globally consistent and comparable sustainability-reporting baseline. The building blocks approach would then allow jurisdictions to go further and faster if they wish, while retaining cross-border comparability. He added:

In this respect, I believe there is consistency between the IFRS/IOSCO approach and the EU’s thinking on international cooperation. The EU cannot achieve the green transition alone. It needs other countries to share its ambition and work in the same direction. Greater international alignment on ESG-related disclosures will increase global transparency. It will also reduce the due-diligence costs for global investors and the administrative costs of companies operating globally.

Mr Servais then turned to the European Commission initiative and the proposal for a Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD). He welcomed that the Commission has clarified that-the EU standards should aim to incorporate the essential elements of globally accepted standards currently being developed and would build on and contribute to standardisation initiatives at global level. He noted that he expected the first IFRS standard in mid-2022 and welcomed that the draft Directive clarified that EU standards "should take account of any sustainability reporting standards developed under the auspices of International Financial Reporting Standards Foundation”.

Please click to access the full text of the speech.

Report on the spring 2021 IFASS meeting

10 May 2021

A report has been issued summarising the discussions at the meeting of the International Forum of Accounting Standard Setters (IFASS) held by remote participation on 8 and 9 March 2021.

As reported earlier, among the topics discussed at the meeting were non-financial reporting and the IASB agenda consultation. In addition, IASB Chair Hans Hoogervorst gave a farewell speech to IFASS participants.

The full list of topics discussed at the meeting was:

  • EFRAG initiative on non-financial reporting
    • Overview of the current discussions at the EU level on sustainability reporting
  • Disclosure initiative – Subsidiaries that are SMEs
    • Introduction of the forthcoming proposals
  • Going concern
    • Presentations by Australia and New Zealand
  • Issues surrounding separate financial statements
    • Presentations by Brazil, India, Italy, and Korea
  • Future of Corporate Reporting
    • FRC discussion paper on the future of corporate reporting
  • Post-implementation review of IFRS 10, IFRS 11 and IFRS 12
    • Presentation by India
  • International financial reporting for non-profit organisations
    • Introduction to the IFR4NPO consultation paper issued in January 2021
  • Agenda consultation
    • Introduction to the main areas of the forthcoming request for information
    • EFRAG presentation of its preliminary views on the IASB’s agenda consultation
  • Business combinations under common control
    • Introduction, break-out sessions, and plenary session
  • Message from IASB Chair

The next meeting is to be held on 29-30 September 2021; it will also be held by remote participation.

Please click for the full report from the meeting.

IASB to conduct fieldwork on its disclosure review ED

07 May 2021

On 25 March 2021, the IASB published the exposure draft ED/2021/3 'Disclosure Requirements in IFRS Standards — A Pilot Approach (Proposed amendments to IFRS 13 and IAS 19)' that contains proposed guidance for itself when developing and drafting disclosure requirements in IFRSs in future as well as proposed amendments to IFRS 13 'Fair Value Measurement' and IAS 19 'Employee Benefits' that result from applying the proposed guidance to those standards. The IASB is now inviting preparers of financial statements to participate in fieldwork to test the proposals in the ED.

The IASB is looking for preparers that would conduct fieldwork using its instructions and questionnaires to test the application of the proposed new requirements in IFRS 13, IAS 19 or both. Participants would then summarise and report the results of the fieldwork.

Please click for more information on the IASB website.

EC conference on the proposed Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive and the way forward

07 May 2021

In its efforts to revise the EU Non-Financial Reporting Directive (NFRD), the European Commission (EC) in April 2021 published a proposal for a Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD). At a high-level conference on 6 May 2021 "Proposal for a Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive - The Way Forward" participants also discussed the tight timeframe of the EC proposals.

The EC proposed a transposition of the CSRD into national law by member states by 1 December 2022, so that the amendments would be applicable for the first time for fiscal years beginning on or after 1 January 2023. In her keynote speech, Mairead McGuinness, European Commissioner for Financial Services, Financial Stability and Capital Markets Union, highlighted that the timing was ambitious. The draft CSRD proposed that for reporting under the new directive, European sustainability reporting standards that are still to be developed by the European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG) would have to be applied.

Ms McGuinness stated "we don't have a lot of time", but also added "but we will make sure that we will have those standards". She explained that to allow setting up the new structure within EFRAG, but to also have the standards available in time, the EC would task EFRAG to do these two things in parallel: set up the new Board and corresponding technical structures and also begin with the development of the new EU non-financial reporting standards based on the work done by the project task force on preparatory work for the elaboration of possible EU non-financial reporting standards of the European Corporate Reporting Lab, which works under the roof of EFRAG, but is not subject to its governance structure. Those standards would later be approved by the new technical bodies within EFRAG.

A recording of the conference is available on the EC website. Ms McGuinness' keynote address and her answers to questions from the audience begin at about 14:15hrs.

IFAC encourages a building blocks approach for reporting sustainability-related information

07 May 2021

In September 2020, the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) released 'Enhancing Corporate Reporting: The Way Forward' calling for the creation of a new sustainability standards board that would exist alongside the IASB under the IFRS Foundation. The IFAC has now published a revised building blocks approach to reporting sustainability information — enhancing its previously issued roadmap.

As in the predecessor publication, IFAC continues to support a new standard-setting board under the IFRS Foundation that can lead to the coordination and harmonisation of reporting and provide a baseline of requirements addressing sustainability information that is material to enterprise value. With the new publication, IFAC hopes to foster discussion on how the building blocks approach can deliver a global system for consistent, comparable, and assurable sustainability-related information that best meets the needs of investors and other stakeholders.

Please click to access Enhancing Corporate Reporting: Sustainability Building Blocks and a corresponding press release on the IFAC website.

IASB publishes amendments to IAS 12

07 May 2021

The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) has published 'Deferred Tax related to Assets and Liabilities arising from a Single Transaction (Amendments to IAS 12)' that clarify how companies account for deferred tax on transactions such as leases and decommissioning obligations.

 

Background

The IFRS Interpretations Committee received a submission about IAS 12 Income Taxes and the recognition of deferred tax in relation to leases (when a lessee recognises an asset and a liability at the lease commencement) and decommissioning obligations (when an entity recognises a liability and includes the decommissioning costs in the cost of the item of of property, plant and equipment). The submitted fact pattern assumed that lease payments and decommissioning costs were deductible for tax purposes when paid and identified different approaches in practice.

The Committee discussed the submission and came to the conclusion that the matter was relevant and widespread, as there are various kinds of contracts and fact patterns affected. Moreover, the question as to whether tax deductions are attributable to a contract, a (single) asset/liability, or rather to cash flows, and as to which consequences this may have for determining temporary differences, is fundamental within IAS 12. Therefore, the Committee recommended that the IASB develop clarifying amendments to IAS 12.

The IASB discussed the issue and in July 2019 published an exposure draft of proposed clarifying amendments, which have now been finalised.

 

Changes

The main change in Deferred Tax related to Assets and Liabilities arising from a Single Transaction (Amendments to IAS 12) is an exemption from the initial recognition exemption provided in IAS 12.15(b) and IAS 12.24. Accordingly, the initial recognition exemption does not apply to transactions in which equal amounts of deductible and taxable temporary differences arise on initial recognition. This is also explained in the newly inserted paragraph IAS 12.22A.

     

    Effective date and transition

    The amendments are effective for annual reporting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2023. Early adoption is permitted.

    An entity applies the amendments to transactions that occur on or after the beginning of the earliest comparative period presented. It also, at the beginning of the earliest comparative period presented, recognises deferred tax for all temporary differences related to leases and decommissioning obligations and recognises the cumulative effect of initially applying the amendments as an adjustment to the opening balance of retained earnings (or other component of equity, as appropriate) at that date.

     

    Additional information

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