IFRS 14 – another gap closes, sort of

The IASB has issued IFRS 14 Regulatory Deferral Accounts, effective for annual periods beginning on or after January 1, 2016. For those who aren’t familiar with the area, IFRS 14 brings into IFRS for the first time a practice long-established elsewhere, that entities subject to rate-regulation (power suppliers and suchlike) can justify recognizing assets and…

Gross misconduct!

Issues arising in determining whether to recognize revenue on a gross or net basis Here’s an extract from the Alberta Securities Commission’s recent Corporate Finance Disclosure Report, issued in December 2013: “IAS 18, paragraph 8 states that revenue includes only the gross inflows of economic benefits received and receivable by the entity on its own…

Clarifying share-based payments (to a degree)

The IASB’s recent Annual Improvements includes some important changes to IFRS 2 For my money, IFRS 2 Share-based payment is one of the more poorly expressed standards, in that it does a weak job of laying out its core principles, and all but encourages a reader to get lost in definitions and complexities, without really…

Master speaker!

Observations on a recent address by IASB Chair Hans Hoogervorst I’m sure Hans Hoogervorst is a capable Chair of the IASB in most respects, but his speeches – at least as published on the website – are consistently awful. A recent example delivered in Tokyo, titled “Defining Profit or Loss and OCI… can it be…

Cash flows and exemptions

A recent European example of issues related to the cash flow statement, and an example of applying a prominent financial instrument exemption Here’s another of the issues from some extracts of enforcement decisions recently issued by the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) (for more background see here): “The issuer operates in the mining industry…

Extractive industries – what to expect?

Will the “temporary exemption” allowed by IFRS 6 ever actually be lifted? The choice allowed by IFRS 6 in the area of exploration and evaluation expenses is well-known to those involved in the extractive industries; or, put another way, to any Canadian practitioner who works with smaller entities. Many Canadian entities used the transition to…

Non-controlling interests – a financial liability?

A European example of applying basic principles of financial instruments to a situation involving non-controlling interests Here’s another of the issues from some extracts of enforcement decisions recently issued by the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) (for more background see here): “The issuer has a history of growth through acquisitions and frequently acquires a…