Hans Hoogervorst, chairman of the International Accounting Standards
Board said: “The Agenda Consultation provides an important opportunity
to help shape the Board’s priorities and the future of financial
reporting.”
He added that the board’s work programme over the next five years
will focus in part on finalising its existing work agenda and carrying
out post-implementation reviews of its financial instruments, revenue
and leases accounting standards.
Alongside the option of launching a full-scale review of IAS 19,
which the board warns would be a ‘large’ project, the IASB is also
seeking views on whether it should address:
The launch of the consultation comes as the IFRS Foundation contemplates setting up a new board to set sustainability reporting standards.
The IASB currently has three pensions-accounting projects on its work plan:
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pensions disclosures as part of its Disclosure Initiative—Targeted Standards-level Review of Disclosures;
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pension benefits that depend on asset returns; and
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the availability of a refund of contributions.
Interested parties have until 27 September 2021 to make their views known to the board.
Singapore, US regulators to lead IOSCO sustainability standards expert group
The International Organisation of Securities Commissions has welcomed the
22 March announcement by the Trustees of the IFRS Foundation of a
working group to prepare the ground for the establishment of a
Sustainability Standards Board.
IOSCO, which will join the group, said it looks forward to
“collaborating with the working group as it develops its technical
recommendations, including planned work to further refine the prototype
climate-related disclosure standard … as a basis for the SSB to build on
existing initiatives in its standards development.”
IOSCO added that it will set up its own technical expert group (TEG)
within its Sustainable Finance Task Force under the joint leadership of
the Monetary Authority of Singapore and the US Securities and Exchange
Commission. The IOSCO TEG will assess the IFRS Foundation’s progress on
developing its prototype reporting framework ahead of COP26 in
November.
Commenting on the Foundation’s work so far, IOSCO said it “views the
proposed SSB and its future standards as a promising solution for
achieving consistent, comparable, and reliable cross-border
sustainability-related reporting requirements”.
The statement continues that IOSCO will “encourage IOSCO members and
relevant authorities to consider the standards when setting
sustainability-related disclosure requirements.”
COVID-19 relief amendment extended
The IASB has announced an extension to its May 2020 amendment to IFRS 16 Leases aimed at easing the burden on lessees of applying the standard during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The concession was due to expire on 30 June this year but will now remain available to lessees until 30 June 2022.
It means lessees will not need to reassess their leasing contracts
for accounting purposes – a potentially time-consuming and costly
process – where a lessor varies lease payments to take account of the
impact of the coronavirus pandemic.