Overall, our most popular pages remain our accounting standards summaries, and we continued to witness strong demand for our news, publications, resource pages, and project summaries. Our reporting around the IFRS Foundation structure and bodies witnessed again great demand this year with our resource pages on the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) and the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) being the top resource pages of the year.

We wish you a happy, safe and healthy New Year. We look forward to bringing you the latest financial reporting news in 2024.

In the report, ICAP is presenting the results from consultations conducted with companies, auditors and other stakeholders in Pakistan on the adoption and implementation of the ISSB standards. 

ICAP recommends that the ISSB standards are adopted in Pakistan with the following timeline:

• For periods beginning on or after 1 January 2025 for large companies;
• For periods beginning on or after 1 January 2026 for medium-sized companies; and
• For periods beginning on or after 1 January 2027 for all other listed companies.

The size criteria for 'large' and 'medium-sized' are set out in the report. It is recommended that in the first year of application entities will only have to disclose climate-related information (except information on Scope 3 emissions). From the second year, disclosures on all sustainability-related topics, including on Scope 3 emissions, would be required. 

Assurance would be required in accordance with the International Standard on Sustainability Assurance (ISSA) 5000 General Requirements for Sustainability Assurance Engagements from the second year of reporting.

Please click to see the full report on the ICAP website.

The decision to implement IFRS S1 and IFRS S2 has been made in collaboration with the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) of Bangladesh and the disclosure requirements apply to scheduled banks and finance companies of Bangladesh.

The timeline for the implementation is as follows:

• June 2024: Limited intermediate report
• December 2024: Limited supervisory report
• 2025: Limited disclosures in annual report
• 2026: Limited disclosures, with additional elements, in annual report
• 2027: Full disclosures under the guideline

Limited assurance of the reported information is required in the annual report.

For more information, please see the circular, which includes the guideline as an appendix, on the Bangladesh Bank website.

We look forward to seeing you again after the holidays and to continue to be your preferred accounting website in 2024.

The press release states that these documents cover the most challenging aspects regarding the implementation of ESRS, which were adopted by the European Commission in July 2023. They are as follows:

• Draft EFRAG IG 1 Materiality assessment implementation guidance, describing the reporting requirements on the materiality assessment process including an illustration of possible steps of the process and FAQs on the double materiality assessment.
• Draft EFRAG IG 2 Value chain implementation guidance, describing the reporting requirements on the value chain during the materiality statement, for impacts, risks and opportunity management as well as metrics and targets, including the reporting boundary of the group for sustainability reporting, FAQs to provide further information and a 'value chain map'.
• Draft EFRAG IG 3 Detailed ESRS datapoints implementation guidance, presenting the complete list of ESRS requirements in an Excel format. For this document, an explanatory note is also available.

The documents are proposed to be non-authoritative.

For more information, including on how to provide feedback on the documents, please see the press release on the EFRAG website.

The IPTF's discussion document for the 9 November 2023 meeting is now available and states the following view of the Task Force:

Countries with three-year cumulative inflation rates exceeding 100%:

• Argentina
• Ethiopia
• Ghana
• Iran
• Lebanon
• Sierra Leone
• Sudan
• Suriname
• Turkey
• Venezuela
• Yemen
• Zimbabwe

Countries with projected three-year cumulative inflation rates exceeding 100%:

• Haiti

Countries where the three-year cumulative inflation rates had exceeded 100% in recent years:

• South Sudan

Countries with recent three-year cumulative inflation rates exceeding 100% after a spike in inflation in a discrete period:

There are no countries in this category for this period.

Countries with projected three-year cumulative inflation rates between 70% and 100% or with a significant (25% or more) increase in inflation during the current period

• Angola
• Burundi
• Egypt
• Lao P.D.R
• Malawi
• Moldova
• Nigeria (new entry)
• Pakistan
• Sao Tome and Principe
• Sri Lanka
• Ukraine

The IPTF also notes that there may be additional countries with three-year cumulative inflation rates exceeding 100% or that should be monitored which are not included in the analysis as the necessary data is not available. Examples cited are Eritrea, Syria, and Afghanistan.

The full list, including exact numbers, detailed explanations of the calculation of the numbers, and observations of the Task Force is available on the CAQ website.

The agreement highlights the importance of addressing nature-related matters to advance corporate sustainability. It reflects a shared commitment between EFRAG and TNFD to enhance transparency on biodiversity and ecosystems matters.

The agreement builds on a long-standing collaboration between EFRAG and TNFD, which resulted in alignment of the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) with the TNFD’s recommended disclosures. The ESRS have been developed by EFRAG and were adopted by the European Commission in July 2023.

As a next step, EFRAG and TNFD will publish a detailed interoperability mapping table illustrating the alignment of ESRS with the TNFD recommendations. The table is expected to be published early in 2024.

For more information, please click to see the press release on the EFRAG website.

The document aims to support financial entities in meeting their reporting obligations by addressing FAQs arising from the interpretation and implementation of the Taxonomy Disclosures Delegated Act.  

The FAQs include guidance on which entities will be in scope of the reporting obligations and assists with the taxonomy assessment of specific exposures. They also consider the rules with regard to the verification and evidence of compliance with the EU taxonomy, as well as questions specifically targeted at credit institutions, insurers and asset managers. 

For more information and to access the FAQ document, please see the press release on the EC website. 

The meeting focused on the proposed disclosure requirements in the exposure draft and potential new disclosure requirements arising from the IASB’s redeliberations on the exposure draft.

The meeting summary is available on the IFRS Foundation website.

The amendments to IAS 1 Presentation of Financial Statements are:

• Classification of Liabilities as Current or Non-current (issued on 23 January 2020);
• Classification of Liabilities as Current or Non-current - Deferral of Effective Date (issued on 15 July 2020); and
• Non-current Liabilities with Covenants (issued on 31 October 2022).

The Commission Regulation amending Regulation (EC) No 1126/2008 adopting certain international accounting standards in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 1606/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council was published in the Official Journal of the European Union on 20 December 2023.