IASB consults on proposed improvements to IFRS 8 Operating Segments

The International Accounting Standards Board (the Board) has today published proposed improvements to the IFRS Standard covering operating segments, IFRS 8, for public consultation.

IFRS 8 Operating Segments was issued in 2006. It sets out the disclosure requirements for information about a company's operating segments, products and services, as well as about the geographical areas in which it operates and its major customers.

The proposed amendments follow on from a Post-implementation Review (PIR) of IFRS 8 that was carried out to assess whether the Standard works as intended. The PIR confirmed that the Standard generally functions well but identified some areas that could benefit from improvements.

The proposed improvements in the Exposure Draft include amendments:

• to clarify and emphasise the criteria that must be met before two operating segments may be aggregated;
• to require companies to disclose the title and role of the person or group that performs the function of the chief operating decision maker; and
• to require companies to provide information in the notes to the financial statements if segments in the financial statements differ from segments reported elsewhere in the annual report and in accompanying materials.

The Board has also proposed to amend IAS 34 Interim Financial Reporting to require companies that change their segments to provide restated segment information for prior interim periods earlier than they currently do.

The Exposure Draft, Improvements to IFRS 8 Operating Segments (Proposed amendments to IFRS 8 and IAS 34), can be accessed here.

The consultation is open for comments until 31 July 2017.