FASB Discusses Projects on Digital Assets, Income Taxes, and ESG-Linked Financial Instruments

Accounting for exchange-traded digital assets and commodities — The Board decided (1) to add to its technical agenda a project related to improving the accounting for, and disclosures about, certain digital assets and (2) not to add a project related to accounting for exchange-traded commodities.

Targeted improvements to income tax disclosure requirements — The Board discussed potential improvements to the disclosure requirements related to income taxes paid and the rate reconciliation. The Board directed the staff to research approaches for disaggregating “income taxes paid by jurisdictions” and requiring “disclosure of individual reconciling items in the rate reconciliation on the basis of a quantitative threshold and specific categories of reconciling items.” No decisions were made.

Accounting for financial instruments with environmental, social, and governance (ESG)–linked features and regulatory credits — The Board discussed its preagenda research and stakeholder feedback it received on ESG-linked financial instruments in response to its June 2021 invitation to comment Agenda Consultation. No decisions were made, and the Board directed the staff to continue performing preagenda research.