World Standard-setters Conference 2023—Debrief

Debrief on 2023 World Standard-setters Conference in London

More than 120 delegates from 69 countries and jurisdictions joined the IFRS Foundation’s 22nd World Standard-setters Conference on 25 and 26 September 2023.

Delegates attended in person in London and online to hear a range of speakers specialising in accounting and sustainability reporting. The sessions broadcast on LinkedIn and via the IFRS Foundation website attracted around 10,000 views.

Partnering with national standard-setters

Andreas Barckow, International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) Chair, kicked off the two-day conference that marked half a century of comparability and transparency in the global standard-setting partnership.

Andreas and Nili Shah, Executive Technical Director, presented an IASB update. Andreas said how invaluable the understanding of accounting issues in jurisdictions is in developing high quality IFRS Accounting Standards and indicated the key role national standard-setters play in maintaining their consistent application.

IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards enhances global accounting language

Emmanuel Faber, Chair of the International Sustainability Board (ISSB), spoke about the use of the IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards issued in June 2023, and the support that will be available to jurisdictions before the effective date of the Standards in 2024.

He said that the Standards provide an accounting language to be used with the financial statements to assist investors in decision-making.

The ISSB has responded to demand from jurisdictions for implementation support by creating capacity building materials that will be available at the end of November when the COP28 meeting starts and publishing an adoption guide available by the end of the year.

Reducing unnecessary costs

Regulators from Mexico, New Zealand, Poland and the UK shared their perspectives on the prospective Accounting Standard for subsidiaries without public accountability.

Bertrand Perrin, IASB Member, emphasised that this new Accounting Standard will reduce unnecessary costs for companies that prepare financial statements.

Close to the finishing line

In the conference’s final plenary session, the audience quizzed the Primary Financial Statements project team, which is drafting a new IFRS Accounting Standard on presentation and disclosure that the IASB plans to issue in 2024.

Nick Anderson, IASB Member, said that the IASB is reviewing minor issues, and is now focusing on delivering the new Standard.

You can watch the recordings of these sessions here.

Breakout sessions

Seven breakout sessions covered the following topics:

• the implementation of the first two IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards;
• the SASB Standards usage in IFRS S1 and IFRS S2;
• the financial instruments projects, including an upcoming consultation on Financial Instruments with Characteristics of Equity;
• the IASB project Business Combinations—Disclosures, Goodwill and Impairment;
• possible amendments to IAS 37 Provisions, Contingent Liabilities and Contingent Assets that could change the timing of recognition of some provisions;
• first impressions after applying IFRS 17 Insurance Contracts, since it came into effect in January 2023; and
• how the IFRS Interpretations Committee supports consistent application of IFRS Accounting Standards.

You can find the materials for the breakout sessions here.

The WSS Conference was a truly fantastic networking event, filled with valuable insights on accounting and sustainability. The IFRS Foundation looks forward to reconnecting with national standards-setters at the WSS Conference in September 2024.