Amendments to derecognition requirements, but keeping it narrow!

The IASB mentioned a while ago that to “reduce diversity in practice and assist with the consistent application of the derecognition requirements in IFRS 9, (it) decided to clarify that for the derecognition of financial assets (except for ‘regular way’ transactions) and financial liabilities, an entity applies settlement date accounting”… The exposure draft to make all…

Activision Blizzard: fair game?

This is from a recent SEC press release: As noted, the company did provide risk factor disclosure on this general area (sure, such disclosures are often skimmed over as “boilerplate,” but they’re there): Of course, any amount of generalized anything-could-happen disclosure can’t compensate for sustained underlying bad practice. Was this such a case? SEC commissioner…

Enhancing connectivity, or: …and you got me to look after you

The IASB recently added a project to its work plan to explore whether and how companies can provide better information about climate-related risks in their financial statements. Here’s how the news release summed it up: At the same time, the IASB issued two separate articles with “connectivity” in the title. Here’s an extract from one of them:…

More commentary on ESG, or: save our heart and soul!

A recent New York Times article by David Gelles explored “How Environmentally Conscious Investing Became a Target of Conservatives.” Here are some extracts: You know what else is a direct assault on the heart and soul of any economy? Irreversible environmental degradation and an unsustainable society, that’s what! The article has plenty more, with our…

Crypto assets held for others – maybe you see them, maybe you don’t!

Here’s the background to another issue recently discussed by CPA Canada’s IFRS Discussion Group The group discussed factors to consider when assessing whether crypto assets held by the Platform on behalf of others should be recognized in the Platform’s statement of financial position, something that (in common with everything crypto-related!) isn’t addressed directly in the…

Developing and drafting disclosure requirements: play it down the middle!

Here’s a portion of a recent IASB news release: The document sets out that to enable entities to make effective materiality judgements, the IASB, when drafting disclosure requirements, will typically: The IASB describes this as a “middle-ground” approach in that it’s more prescriptive than what it originally proposed, responding to the widespread skepticism described in…

IFRS in Ethiopia: joining the family!

A section of the ifrs.org website monitors the application of IFRS across the world, based on profiles for 167 jurisdictions. That’s not the whole world though, and you might well have asked – what about Ethiopia (well, you might have)? It’s not included among the 167, and barely mentioned anywhere on the website; there’s just the following…

Recent commentaries on ESG: barreling along!

The volume of commentary on ESG-related matters seems to grow by the day… An article by Barbara Shecter in Canada’s Financial Post considered whether pension funds have a legal obligation to consider climate change when investing. Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI), an international group backed by some of Canada’s largest pension funds, thinks so: The…

Making accounting cool, or: calling Miley Cyrus!

How Can We Make Accounting Cool? asked a recent Wall Street Journal article It’s written by Joe Queenan. Here are some extracts: Unfortunately, albeit understandably, Queenan’s diagnosis of the problem is much more convincing than that of the solution. The suggestions that films like Ben Affleck’s The Accountant “certainly help,” or that much would be…

More disclosures about synergies, or: I’m demoralized!

Here’s an extract from the January 2023 IASB Update: The exemption referred to in the second item refers back to the September 2022 meeting, at which the IASB tentatively decided to propose an exemption in specific circumstances that would permit an entity not to disclose information about management’s objectives for a business combination; the metrics…