The ISSB’s (natural?) next step on nature-related disclosures

The ISSB recently announced a decision to propose requirements for nature-related disclosures in the form of an IFRS Practice Statement. This is from the news release: The ISSB had been discussing this project under the label “biodiversity, ecosystems and ecosystem services,” deciding only recently to change the title to “nature-related disclosures.” Nature-related risks and opportunities…

Today’s AI update: a race to the bottom!

It feels recently as if I could devote this blog entirely to AI-related developments… …as if every new entry might anxiously immerse itself in the tussle of risk and opportunity, hopelessly trying to parse the significance of the latest piece of AI-related news or commentary (and there’s never a day without something new to chew…

Ongoing costs of IFRS 16: let’s relieve the burden (but not too much)

The IASB recently discussed how to respond to stakeholder feedback on the Request for Information Post-implementation Review of IFRS 16 Leases.  The staff paper indicates that many stakeholders commented on the ongoing costs for lessees of applying the IFRS 16 measurement requirenents. Among other feedback, they find “many aspects of the Standard very complex to apply and…

Too much disclosure (just ask the Mona Lisa!)

SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce recently delivered a speech titled The Art and Science of Materiality. She illustrated the broad concept in the following remarkable fashion: The point of this remarkable soliloquy is that “regulators should not substitute their judgment for companies making materiality judgments in good faith (and) cannot short-circuit that company-specific judgment with one-size-fits-all…

Enforcing audit failures, or: foundational curiosity!

The Ontario Securities Commission recently filed an Application for Enforcement Proceeding against KPMG LLP, for audit failures relating to KPMG’s 2019 and 2020 audits of four funds managed by Bridging Finance Inc. As the news release summarizes things: The application groups the allegations into four categories: It’s perhaps bleakly ironic that there was no requirement…

Reassessing control – we allow no short cuts!

IFRIC recently issued the following tentative agenda decision (open for comment until May 29, 2026): Based on its findings, the Committee concluded that the matter described in the request doesn’t have widespread effect, and tentatively decided not to add a standard-setting project to the work plan. As summarized above, that conclusion probably appears obvious. The…

Rolling back reporting, or: streamlining and proportionality!

We’ve looked recently at several initiatives to reduce disclosure and compliance obligations for smaller public companies. SEC Chair Paul Atkins returned to the topic in a recent speech: We can no doubt expect some rule-making on that front soon. Getting in on the act, the UK government recently issued a statement: Regulation Action Plan Update,…

The Biblical roots of IFRS, or: glory in your sufferings!

I came across a fascinating posting on X (or tweet, as I still call them): That’s from an individual in Nigeria posting as “Elijah” (@EJAkerele), whose timeline suggests an interest in extracting life lessons from financial and related matters (as well as in soccer and other sundry matters). I’ll lay on the table that I’m…

Failure to engage, or: correlation is not causation!

Is the SEC regulating for a pre-AI world? asks the CFA Institute’s Sandy Peters. That’s in an excellent recent article on cfo.com. Here are some extracts: The article provides ample evidence of Atkins’ penchant for sloganeering and lack of intellectual rigour: As we covered here, Atkins has also been taking shots at the IFRS Foundation,…