On 29 April 2010, the IASB issued an exposure draft (ED) of proposed amendments to IAS 19 Employee Benefits. Among the amendments proposed to IAS 19 are:

• Immediate recognition of all estimated changes in the cost of providing defined benefits and all changes in the value of plan assets. This would eliminate the various methods currently in IAS 19, including the 'corridor' method, that allow deferral of some of those gains or losses.
• A new presentation approach that would clearly distinguish between different types of gains and losses arising from defined benefit plans. Specifically, the ED proposes that the following changes in benefit costs should be presented separately:
  • service cost – in profit or loss
  • finance cost (that is, net interest on the net defined benefit liability) – as part of finance costs in profit or loss
  • remeasurement – in other comprehensive income
  Comment deadline on the ED Defined Benefit Plans is 6 September 2010.

Click for IAS Plus Newsletter: Closing the Corridor — IASB Proposes Significant Changes to Pension Accounting

 

 

The meeting will be held at the IASB's offices in London on Monday to Thursday 17-20 May 2010 (no meeting on Friday 21 May). Portions of the meeting are joint meetings with FASB. The meeting will be open to public observation and will be webcast. Presented below is the revised agenda for the meeting.

IASB Board Meeting Revised Agenda17-20 May 2010, London

Monday 17 May 2010 IASB-FASB Joint Meeting (13:00-15:00pm London Time) Revenue Recognition Conceptual Framework – Qualitative Characteristics (Sweep Issues) Tuesday 18 May 2010 IASB-FASB Joint Meeting (08:00-18:30pm London Time) Leases Insurance Contracts Consolidation Wednesday 19 May 2010 IASB-FASB Joint Meeting (08:00-13:15pm London Time) Leases Insurance Contracts Derecognition IASB Meeting (14:00-17:30pm London Time) IFRS Interpretations Committee (IFRIC) Update Annual Improvements 2009-2010 Replacement of IAS 39: Hedge Accounting Thursday 20 May 2010 IASB Meeting (09:30-14:45pm London Time) Management Commentary Emissions Trading Consolidation Joint Ventures Replacement of IAS 39: Hedge Accounting

The workshop was sponsored by the Eastern, Central and Southern African Federation of Accountants (ECSAFA) and hosted in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, by the National Board of Accountants and Auditors of Tanzania. It was funded, in part, by The World Bank. Instructors were Paul Pacter, the IASB's Director of Standards for SMEs (and Board Member-designate), and Michael Wells, Director of the IASCF's IFRS Education Initiative. There were 100 participants from 10 countries: Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zimbabwe. All participants have committed to organise similar IFRS for SMEs training workshops in their own country. The IASB will provide the training materials and PowerPoint presentations (totalling 24 contact hours) for those workshops. Similar IASB/IASCF workshops are scheduled for Cairo (June 2010) and Panama (October 2010). For more information contact Michael Wells at mwells@iasb.org.

 

On 6 May 2010, the IASB issued Improvements to IFRSs – a collection of amendments to seven IFRSs – as part of its program of annual improvements to its standards. Some of the amendments are effective for annual periods beginning on or after 1 January 2011, and others for annual periods beginning 1 July 2010, although entities are generally permitted to adopt them earlier. Sections of the newsletter include:

• Changes from the exposure draft
• Amendments likely to significantly change current practice
• Details of amendments, including effective dates and transition

Click for IAS Plus Update Newsletter: Improvements to IFRSs 2010

During this roundtable we will provide updates on:

• FASB's expected ED and the proposed changes to financial instruments accounting, including fair value, impairment, and hedge accounting, resulting from the issuance of the ED
• IASB's project to replace IAS 39 including IFRS 9 Financial Instruments, and the most recent deliberations on the impairment of financial assets, hedge accounting, and the derecognition ED

 

The keynote speaker will be Glenn Brady, the IASB's project manager on its extractive activities project. Details:

• Date/Time: Wednesday and Thursday 16-17 June 2010, 8:30am to 5:30pm daily
• Location: Omni Houston Hotel, Four Riverway, Houston, Texas 77056 USA, phone +1 713 871 8181
• Fees: US$1,500 per person
• Registration Information: Click Here

Deloitte IFRS leaders will deliver course sessions that address important technical accounting changes, tax considerations, technology, and systems questions. Dates and locations are:

• Chicago: 22-23 June 2010, at Deloitte, 111 S. Wacker Drive
• Houston: 15-16 September 2010, at Deloitte, 1111 Bagby Street

Click for Brochure with Detailed Programme and Registration Information (PDF 303k).

 

He said that Europe is getting impatient regarding convergence of IFRSs and US GAAP:

And let me also briefly mention the issue of accounting standards. I appreciate that the US authorities have made progress towards convergence. But in the EU, we are getting impatient. Going forward, it is crucial that we converge further.

Click for Mr Barnier's Remarks (PDF 152k). IAS Plus has comprehensive recent and historical news about IFRSs in the European Union Here.

The ED was issued on 5 January 2010. IAS 37 currently requires an entity to record an obligation as a liability only if it is probable (likelihood greater than 50%) that the obligation will result in an outflow of cash or other resources from the entity. The ED proposes to drop the 'probability of outflows' criterion. Instead, an entity would account for uncertainty about the amount and timing of outflows by using a measurement that reflects their expected value, namely the probability-weighted average of the outflows for the range of possible outcomes. Therefore, liabilities within the scope of IAS 37 would be measured at the amount that the entity would rationally pay at the measurement date to be relieved of the liability. Normally, this amount would be an estimate of the present value of the resources required to fulfil the liability, which would take into account the expected outflows of resources, the time value of money, and the risk that the actual outflows might ultimately differ from the expected outflows.

Click for Exposure Draft: Measurement of Liabilities in IAS 37

 

Many investors and others have said that volatility in profit or loss resulting from changes in an entity's own credit risk is counter-intuitive and does not provide useful information – except for value changes relating to derivatives and liabilities held for trading (such as short sales). The IASB is proposing, therefore, that all gains and losses resulting from changes in 'own credit' for those financial liabilities that an entity chooses to measure at fair value should be recognised as a component of 'other comprehensive income' (OCI), not in profit or loss. Such gains or losses would be presented using a 'two-step approach':

• As a first step, an entity would present the full change in fair value in profit or loss.
• In the second step, the portion relating to changes in an entity's own credit risk would be presented as an offsetting entry in profit or loss and presented in OCI.

The ED does not propose any other changes for financial liabilities. Consequently, the proposals will affect only those entities that elect to apply the fair value option to their financial liabilities. Importantly, those who prefer to bifurcate financial liabilities when relevant may continue to do so. That is consistent with the widespread view that the existing requirements for financial liabilities work well, other than the 'own credit' issue that these proposals cover.

The proposals in the ED are presented as a self-contained issue for public comment. However, any finalised requirements would be included in IFRS 9 Financial Instruments in the chapter on classification and measurement of financial liabilities. Also, any guidance in IAS 39 or IFRS 7 Financial Instruments: Disclosures that is still relevant to the finalised requirements would be moved to IFRS 9 as well.

Comment deadline on ED/2010/4 Fair Value Option for Financial Liabilities is 16 July 2010. Click for IASB Press Release (PDF 100k). Link to IAS Plus Project Page.