The SCC discussed the Inaugural Jurisdictional Guide for the Adoption and other use of ISSB Standards. The ISSB staff outlined the significance and nuances of how the guide facilitates the adoption and other use of the ISSB standards across jurisdictions, highlighting detailed concepts including jurisdiction profiles, necessary modifications and various provisions including transition reliefs. 

The SCC also received an update on the ISSB's consultation on agenda priorities. The ISSB staff reflected on the extensive feedback received as part of the public consultation. This included prioritising the implementation of IFRS S1 and IFRS S2, enhancing the SASB standards, and launching two new research projects focusing on biodiversity, ecosystems and ecosystem services, and human capital. 

Please click to access the summary on the IFRS Foundation website.

According to the press release, the webinars are designed to support preparers and other market participants in exploring topics connected to sustainability and disclosure. The series will engage new and experienced preparers each month in expert presentations and discussions supported by organisations in the IFRS Foundation’s Partnership Framework.

The first episode is titled 'The business case for early adoption' and will explain the benefits of early adoption of IFRS S1 and IFRS S2 for entities and investors as well as for global capital markets.

The IFRS Foundation has set up a separate subsite that offers information on all planned episodes, registration for upcoming webcasts and access to recordings of past episodes. 

The podcast discusses the following:

• Recent publications which are key milestones for the ISSB, including:
  • the IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Taxonomy; and
  • the ESRS–ISSB Standards Interoperability Guidance.
• The opening of the new ISSB office in Montreal.
• Upcoming publications, including:
  • new webcasts on current and anticipated financial effects;
  • the inaugural jurisdictional guide for the adoption or other use of ISSB standards; and
  • the ISSB’s agenda consultation feedback statement.
• Forthcoming meetings and events such as:
  • the IOSCO Annual Meetings in Athens;
  • the Trustees of the IFRS Foundation meeting in Singapore;
  • the Sustainability Standards Conference 2024 in Frankfurt; and
  • the IFRS Foundation Conference 2024 in London.

To access the podcast, please see the press release on the IFRS Foundation website.

The DPOC discussed a possible shortened comment period for the IASB exposure draft on power purchase agreements that was published in May 2024. During the meeting, the IASB explained its reasons for suggesting a shortened comment period. The DPOC followed the reasoning of the IASB and agreed to a shortened comment period of 90 days.

Please click to access the summary on the IFRS Foundation website.

Under SEC rules, registrants are generally required to file certain financial statements prepared in accordance with US Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). Foreign private issuers, however, are permitted to file financial statements that are prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) or, alternatively, in accordance with their home country GAAP with reconciliation to US GAAP.

In May 2024, the IASB issued IFRS 19, which permits certain subsidiaries of reporting entities to provide reduced disclosures when applying recognition, measurement and presentation requirements in IFRS Accounting Standards. IFRS 19 also specifies that eligible subsidiaries that elect to apply the standard must provide additional material disclosures when it determines that information is necessary to enable financial statement users to understand the impact of transactions, events and conditions on the subsidiary’s financial position and financial performance.

Although the scope of IFRS 19 is limited to entities that do not have public accountability at the end of their financial statement reporting period, there may be situations when financial statements that apply IFRS 19 are included in filings with the SEC. The SEC states that in these situations, the requirements in IFRS 19 are likely to necessitate additional disclosures in financial statements filed with the SEC because such financial statements are intended for use by investors in our public capital markets for making investment and voting decisions.

For more information, please see the statement on the SEC website.

The following topics are on the agenda:

Post-implementation review (PIR) of IFRS 9—Impairment: The IASB will deliberate on the feedback received in response to its Request for Information Post-implementation Review—IFRS 9 Financial Instruments—Impairment with regard to credit risk disclosures and other matters. The staff recommends that the IASB classify as medium priority the matters raised by stakeholders about credit risk disclosures and add a project to its research pipeline to make targeted improvements to the disclosure requirements in IFRS 7 about credit risk. The staff also recommends that the IASB classify as medium priority and add to its research pipeline the matter relating to additional illustrative examples for financial instruments with particular features (such as between related parties). Finally, the staff recommends that the IASB concludes the PIR.

Financial instruments with characteristics of equity: The staff will provide a high-level summary of the feedback and key themes emerging from comment letters that have been received in response to the Exposure Draft (ED) Financial Instruments with Characteristics of Equity and from investor outreach activities. No decisions will be requested from the IASB in this meeting.

Second comprehensive review of the IFRS for SMEs Accounting Standard: The IASB will continue the redeliberations of its proposals in the ED Third edition of the IFRS for SMEs Accounting Standard. The IASB will make decisions with regard to Section 9 Consolidated and Separate Financial Statements, Section 23 Revenue from Contracts with Customers, differences between the ED and IFRS 19, and transition requirements.

Proposed IFRS Taxonomy Update—Contracts for Renewable Electricity: The IASB will receive an oral update about how the recent ED Contracts for Renewable Electricity affects the IFRS Accounting Taxonomy.

Rate-regulated activities: The IASB will continue the redeliberations of its proposals in the ED Regulatory Assets and Regulatory Liabilities. In particular, the staff recommends that the final standard should clarify that the income tax consequences of a regulatory asset or regulatory liability may give rise to a separate regulatory asset or regulatory liability. The staff also recommends that the final standard retain the proposal to delete the temporary exception in IAS 8:54G.

PIR of IFRS 15 Revenue from Contracts with Customers: The IASB will analyse the feedback related to matters not discussed in previous meetings. The staff recommends that the IASB take no further action on application matters related to allocating the transaction price to performance obligations and other aspects of applying IFRS 15 raised by respondents.

Our pre-meeting summaries are available on our May meeting notes page and will be supplemented with our popular meeting notes after the meeting.

The updated guide provides a phased approach for implementing the Integrated Reporting (IR) Framework and is intended to help preparers to understand how the ISSB standards can be taken into account for their reporting.

The guide suggests that those preparers who are new to integrated reporting could begin by adopting the principles and concepts specified in the IR Framework over one, two or three reporting cycles. For experienced integrated reporters, the guide can help to embed IFRS S1 and IFRS S2 disclosures in their reports and hence, improve comparability of those reports.

Please click to access the updated guide via the press release on the IFRS Foundation website.

The amendments add disclosure requirements, and ‘signposts’ within existing disclosure requirements, that ask entities to provide qualitative and quantitative information about supplier finance arrangements.

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 16 May 2024.

CSRD Essentials simplifies key aspects of the CSRD and is addressed to policymakers and sustainability reporters. There will be eleven editions of the publication series that explain the CSRD in accessible language.

The CSRD Essentials series focuses on:

• Scope, timing and interactions with existing standards
• Reporting format
• Legal interconnections, auditing rules and internal supervision
• Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), implementation procedures and penalties

Please click here for more information, including access to the first edition of CSRD Essentials, on the GRI website.

The ICAS report is titled Materiality assessments in corporate sustainability and financial reporting: Connectivity, practices, processes, and challenges and:

• explores to what extent and how sustainability and financial reporting are becoming connected and overlapping;
• examines the processes followed and challenges faced by preparers when adopting the different concepts of materiality;
• addresses how entities can best identify the relevant material information to be included within both financial and sustainability reporting; and
• questions whether there is one singular conceptualisation of materiality or multiple interpretations that should be applied across different types of information.

The IRC document is titled FAQ — Explaining Materiality in Corporate Reporting. It includes a high-level explanation of the materiality definitions and terms used in some of the standards and frameworks commonly applied in corporate reporting.

Please click to access the following:

• Materiality assessments in corporate sustainability and financial reporting: Connectivity, practices, processes, and challenges and key findings from the report on the ICAS website.
• FAQ — Explaining Materiality in Corporate Reporting on the IRC website.