PUBLICATIONS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS

Annual Improvements to IFRSs 2015-2017 Cycle open for comment until 12 April 2017

On 12 January 2017, the IASB published an exposure draft covering narrow-scope amendments to:

• IAS 12: all income tax consequences of dividends should be accounted for in the same way, regardless of how the tax arises.
• IAS 23: once a qualifying asset is ready for its intended use or sale, any outstanding borrowing made specifically to obtain that qualifying asset should be treated as part of the funds that the entity has borrowed generally when determining the capitalisation rate for other qualifying assets.
• IAS 28: IFRS 9 (including its impairment requirements) should apply to long-term interests in an associate or joint venture that, in substance, form part of the net investment but to which the equity method is not applied.

For more information: http://www.ifrs.org/Alerts/PressRelease/Pages/IASB-consults-on-clarifications-to-IFRS-Standards.aspx

INTERNATIONAL ACCOUNTING STANDARDS BOARD (IASB)
LATEST DECISIONS SUMMARY

The following is a summarised update on the main tentative decisions taken by the IASB at its meeting on 18 January 2017.

For more detailed and comprehensive information on the IASB’s discussions: https://s3.amazonaws.com/ifrswebcontent/2017/IASB/January/IASB-January-Update-2017.html    

Revised Conceptual Framework (final due H2/2017)

• When more than one measurement basis is selected to provide information about an asset, liability, income or expenses, both the relevance and faithful representation of the information should be considered.
• Selecting different measurement bases for an asset or a liability in the statement of financial position and for related income or expenses in the statement of profit or loss (SoPL), is an example (ie not a concept on its own) of classifying income and expenses in the SoPL and in the statement of other comprehensive income.
• Most of the proposals in the exposure draft Updating References to the Conceptual Framework should be confirmed (with a few minor deletions and amendments), except for the reference in IFRS 3 in relation to recognising identifiable assets and liabilities on the acquisition date of a business combination only if they meet the definition of assets and liabilities in the framework, as replacing this reference would lead to unintended consequences (a narrow-scope amendment to IFRS 3 should remedy this).

Post-implementation Review (PIR) of IFRS 13 (Request for Information due H1/2017)

Besides discussion of the process and activities, the Board provisionally decided to focus Phase 2 of the PIR on:

• the effectiveness of disclosures about fair value measurements (FVM)
• the unit of account and FVM of quoted investments
• the application of judgement in specific areas
• the application of highest and best use for FVM of non-financial assets
• considering the need for education on FVM of biological assets and unquoted equity instruments.

Symmetric Prepayment Options (exposure draft amending IFRS 9 due April 2017)

A financial asset (FA) with a symmetric prepayment option[1] would be eligible to be measured at amortised cost or at fair value through other comprehensive income (subject to the business model condition) if both the following conditions are met:

• the FA would otherwise meet the requirements for a prepayable FA whose contractual cash flows are solely payments of principal and interest (IFRS 9.B4.1.11(b)) but fails it only as a result of the symmetric nature of the prepayment feature; and
• the fair value of the symmetric prepayment feature is insignificant on initial recognition of the FA.  

UPCOMING COMMENT DEADLINES