March 2021

The Board has published a consultation document to seek views on what its priorities should be over the next five years. This is the third time the Board has consulted the public via an agenda consultation to help create its five-year plan.

Board Chair Hans Hoogervorst delivered a speech at a meeting of the International Accounting Forum for Accounting Standards Setter (IFASS), reflecting on his 10-year tenure as it comes to an end in June 2021.

The Board is seeking public comments on a new approach to developing disclosure requirements in IFRS Standards and new disclosure requirements for the Standards on fair value measurement and employee benefits. These proposals would enable companies to enhance their judgement and reduce ‘boilerplate’ information, giving investors more useful information.

In response to calls from stakeholders and because the covid-19 pandemic is still at its height, the Board has extended by one year the application period of the practical expedient in IFRS 16 Leases to help lessees accounting for covid-19-related rent concessions.

The Board met on 23 March 2021 and decided to extend by 30 days the comment period for the Exposure Draft Regulatory Assets and Regulatory Liabilities to give stakeholders more time to respond. The recording of a live webinar explaining this Exposure Draft is also available on the website.

The Board has published a webcast for investors summarising its consultation on reporting mergers and acquisitions (M&As) between companies under common control (transfers of businesses from one company within a group to another). The webcast presents suggestions for how the Board could amend IFRS Standards to make reporting more comparable and more transparent.

First, they announced strategic direction of a potential new sustainability reporting standards board and further steps based on feedback to sustainability reporting consultation. As they continue their analysis and discussions of the feedback received to their Consultation Paper on Sustainability Reporting, they also announced the formation of a working group to accelerate convergence in global sustainability reporting standards focused on enterprise value.

The Trustees of the IFRS Foundation have announced the reappointment for another three-year term of Guy Jones and Goro Kumagai to the IFRS Interpretations Committee, effective 1 July 2021.

The IFRS Taxonomy 2021 is based on IFRS Standards as at 1 January 2021, including those issued but not yet effective. The IFRS Taxonomy enables electronic reporting of financial information prepared in accordance with IFRS Standards. Preparers can use it to tag disclosures, making them easily accessible to investors who prefer to receive financial information electronically.

Read the summary of the Interpretations Committee meeting held in March, with topics including an agenda decision on Configuration or Customisation Costs in a Cloud Computing Arrangement (IAS 38 Intangible Assets).

In this podcast, Hans Hoogervorst and Sue Lloyd, Board Chair and Vice-Chair, talk about the Board’s discussions at both its supplementary meeting on 10 March and its regular meeting on 23 and 24 March 2021. Topics covered include on IFRS 16 Leases and covid-19-related rent concessions, feedback on the Goodwill and Impairment consultation, decisions taken in the Primary Financial Statements project and next steps on the Request for Information Comprehensive Review of the IFRS for SMEs Standard. You can also read the IASB Updates for the supplementary meeting and the regular March meeting.

The Foundation is currently looking for two new Trustees, two new members to the IFRS Interpretations Committee and for nominations to the Accounting Standards Advisory Forum.