The summary notes that small and medium sized entities represent over 97% of Malaysian business entities and that the World Bank has recommended priority be given to the development of standards for private entities.

The summary goes on to outline the various exposure drafts and other developments over a number of years, with various proposals explained and summarised.  The latest development was a 'Request for Views' which sought to revisit the entire issue.  Feedback on the paper indicated most respondents were supportive of moving to an IFRS-based framework, but some concerns were raised about the appropriateness of prescribing an IFRS-based framework for all classes of SMEs.

The summary also notes recent developments at the global level, in particular the IASB's recently commenced review of the IFRS for SMEs.

The summary concludes as follows:

The change to Private Entities reporting has taken a fair bit of time. This was largely unavoidable given the changes in circumstances and the various options available. However, we are getting closer to a solution. The current view is that a change is needed given the increasing use of IFRS, the need to equip our accountants with internationally recognised qualification and the country’s aspiration to improve our SME base. As far as the solution itself is concerned, by Quarter 1, 2013 the Board will outline its proposed decision and implementation framework for comments and issue the new framework by 2014/2015.

The full summary is available on the MASB website.