April 2020

Earlier in April, the Board held a supplementary meeting to discuss issues arising due to the covid-19 pandemic. Read more about the resultant changes to our work plan, which include timeline shifts and the addition of a project proposing an amendment to IFRS 16 Leases (see below). You can also read an article that summarises all that we are doing to help our stakeholders in the coronavirus situation.

The Board has proposed to amend IFRS 16 Leases to make it easier for lessees to account for covid-19-related rent concessions such as rent holidays and temporary rent reductions.

The requirement to use annual cohorts as part of the process of accounting for insurance contracts has been the cause of much debate since IFRS 17 was issued in May 2017. Board Chair Hans Hoogervorst explains the reasons for the Board's decision to retain unchanged the annual cohort requirement.

The Board continues its work on phase 2 of the IBOR project, and recently proposed amendments to IFRS Standards to assist companies in providing useful information to investors about the effects of interest rate benchmark reform on financial statements.

You have an opportunity to help us make the IFRS for SMEs Standard more useful to companies and their investors by completing an online survey, uploading a comment letter or following our online template.

The IFRS Foundation's second Compilation of Agenda Decisions brings together agenda decisions published by the IFRS Interpretations Committee from October 2019 to March 2020.

In this episode of our monthly IASB podcast, Hans Hoogervorst and Sue Lloyd, Chair and Vice-Chair of the Board, talk through actions taken amidst the coronavirus pandemic and discuss developments in projects such as Management Commentary and Post-implementation Reviews of three Standards. You can also listen to an update on the Insurance Contracts discussions by tuning into the dedicated IFRS 17 podcast.