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Dear national standard-setters,

Welcome to our newsletter dedicated to keeping you up to date on the activities of the IFRS Foundation.

In this edition

World Standard-setters Conference in London—September 2025

The World Standard-setters Conference 2025 will take place in London on 29–30 September at the Hilton London Canary Wharf, South Quay, Marsh Wall, London, E14 9SH.

The conference will provide national standard-setters with the opportunity to receive an update on the IFRS Foundation’s activities and discuss them. Participants will be able to attend panel discussions with standard-setters and others, ask their own questions in interactive sessions with presenters, and network with fellow delegates, IFRS Foundation staff and members of the IASB and the ISSB.

The World Standard-setters Conference is open to all national standard-setters. The IFRS Foundation will invite two representatives from each national standard-setter to attend the conference in person and email registration information to hem in due course. In the meantime, if you have any questions about the conference, please use the contact us button below.

You can check out programmes and discussions from previous World Standard-setters conferences.

IASB recent highlights

Proposed amendments to IAS 37 Provisions, Contingent Liabilities and Contingent Assets

In November 2024, the IASB published the consultation Exposure Draft: Provisions—Targeted Improvements—Proposed amendments to IAS 37 aimed at improving the requirements for recognising and measuring provisions on company balance sheets. Provisions are liabilities of uncertain timing or amount. Investors seek transparent and comparable information about companies’ provisions in order to assess future cash flows and financial positions. The IASB’s targeted improvements would help companies apply the requirements more consistently and provide investors with more useful information.

The proposed amendments to IAS 37 Provisions, Contingent Liabilities and Contingent Assets would clarify how companies assess when to record provisions and how to measure them. The amendments would also require companies to provide more information about the measurement. The proposals would most likely be relevant for companies that have large long-term asset decommissioning obligations or are subject to levies and similar government-imposed charges.

The comment period for the Exposure Draft was open until 12 March 2025 and the IASB appreciates the feedback from national standard-setters and other stakeholders, which will be thoroughly analysed and discussed in the next few months.

You can watch the webcast Exposure Draft Provisions—Targeted Improvements in which IASB technical staff members explain the proposed targeted amendments to IAS 37 Provisions, Contingent Liabilities and Contingent Assets.

Amendments to IFRS Accounting Standards for nature-dependent electricity contracts

In December 2024, the IASB issued targeted amendments to help companies better report the financial effects of nature-dependent electricity contracts, which are often structured as power purchase agreements (PPAs). The IASB acted swiftly in view of the increased use of these contracts.

Nature-dependent electricity contracts help companies to secure electricity supplies from sources such as wind and solar power. The amount of electricity generated under these contracts can vary based on uncontrollable factors such as weather conditions. Current accounting requirements may not adequately capture how these contracts affect a company’s performance.

To allow companies to better reflect these contracts in their financial statements, the IASB has made targeted amendments to IFRS 9 Financial Instruments and IFRS 7 Financial Instruments: Disclosures. The amendments include:

  • clarifying the application of the own-use requirements;
  • permitting hedge accounting if these contracts are used as hedging instruments; and
  • adding new disclosure requirements to enable investors to understand the effect of these contracts on a company’s financial performance and cash flows.

The amendments are required to be applied for annual reporting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2026. Companies can apply the amendments earlier.

You can watch the webcast Contracts Referencing Nature-dependent Electricity—Targeted amendments to IFRS 9 and IFRS 7, in which IASB technical staff members explain the recent targeted amendments to IFRS 9 Financial Instruments and IFRS 7 Financial Instruments: Disclosures.

Major update to the IFRS for SMEs Accounting Standard

In February 2025, the IASB issued a major update to the IFRS for SMEs Accounting Standard, which is currently required or permitted in 85 jurisdictions. This Standard aims to balance the information needs of lenders and other users of SMEs’ financial statements with the resources available to SMEs. The Standard defines SMEs as entities without public accountability that prepare general purpose financial statements.

The update of this Standard is the outcome of a periodic comprehensive review of the Standard. Highlights include:

  • a revised model for revenue recognition;
  • bringing together the requirements for fair value measurement in a single location; and
  • updating the requirements for business combinations, consolidations and financial instruments.

This update is effective for annual periods beginning on or after 1 January 2027, with early application permitted.

The IFRS for SMEs Accounting Standard was issued in 2009 to respond to the global demand for a simplified Accounting Standard for SMEs. This updated version is the third edition of the Standard.

The IASB launched a new podcast series dedicated to the third edition of the IFRS for SMEs Accounting Standard. In Episode 1, technical staff members describe the key updates to the Standard, the IASB’s approach to updating the Standard and its engagement with stakeholders throughout the review process.

ISSB recent highlights

Launch of IOSCO network to support ISSB Standards adoption in emerging markets

In December 2024, the ISSB was delighted to welcome and support the International Organization of Securities Commissions’ (IOSCO’s) launch of its Growth and Emerging Markets (GEM) Committee Network for Adoption or Other Use of ISSB Standards (GEMC Network).

The announcement marked a significant step towards supporting the adoption or other use of ISSB Standards in jurisdictions represented in IOSCO's GEMC Network.

The initial cohort of members, representing 31 jurisdictions, accounts for the majority of emerging market jurisdictions' market capitalisation (90% of BRICS market capitalisation) and includes both jurisdictions that have already announced plans for adoption or other use of ISSB Standards as well as others at an earlier stage in their planning. More members are expected to join in the coming months.

Third IFRS Foundation survey on ISSB Standards for national standard-setters and regulators

In February 2025 the IFRS Foundation surveyed national standard-setters and regulators on the global landscape of the adoption or other use of ISSB Standards. The results of the survey will help us to track progress in the adoption or other use of ISSB Standards around the world and to provide updates about this progress to the ISSB stakeholders.

We received responses from 49 jurisdictions (7 jurisdictions in the EU/EEA were grouped as a single jurisdiction for the purposes of analysis). The geographic breakdown was 24 responses from EMEA, 16 from Asia-Oceania and 9 from the Americas.

All 49 jurisdictions that responded to the survey have introduced (or plan to introduce) sustainability-related disclosure requirements into their regulatory frameworks. ​Nearly all of these jurisdictions (47) have already adopted or plan to adopt or otherwise use ISSB Standards. Almost two thirds of responding jurisdictions (32) have either finalised or are now finalising their regulatory process. ​

The large majority of jurisdictions (76%) have declared a jurisdictional target of fully adopting the ISSB Standards. Another 9% are targeting adopting the climate requirements in ISSB Standards and 10% aim to permit use of ISSB Standards.​

More than half of jurisdictions (30) said their jurisdictional approach for adopting or otherwise using ISSB Standards will become effective by the end of 2029. ​ Most jurisdictions (70%) will phase in requirements, starting with initial application ​by some publicly accountable companies, followed by staged application dates for other companies.

Many jurisdictions (39%) plan to require assurance of sustainability-related disclosures. Most of these jurisdictions (77%) plan to mandate a limited assurance scope. ​

The responses to this third survey will help us shape our jurisdictional engagement and the Regulatory Implementation Programme further. The survey analysis will also inform our work as we begin to prepare jurisdictional profiles.

New educational materials on ISSB Standards

IFRS Foundation educational materials are provided free of charge. The IFRS Foundation permits users to link to materials on the IFRS Foundation website provided no paywall or registration is bypassed. If you would like to translate any of these materials, please use the contact us button below.

News for national standard-setters

IFRS Foundation updates

Accounting updates

  • The ASAF met in London in December 2024 and in March 2025. ASAF members discussed several standard-setting and other issues, primarily on the IASB’s work plan. You can watch the meeting recording on the ASAF meetings page.
  • The Emerging Economies Group (EEG) met online in December 2024. EEG members discussed the IASB’s standard-setting projects and current accounting issues in their jurisdictions. You can watch the meeting recording on the EEG meeting page.
  • In December 2024, the IASB completed its technical decision-making on the revised IFRS Practice Statement 1 Management Commentary. The IASB intends for the revised Practice Statement to provide a comprehensive resource for improvement and greater global alignment in management commentary and similar reports. The IASB has moved into the drafting phase, with the updated Practice Statement expected to be published in Q2 of 2025.
  • In December 2024, the IASB introduced the new IFRS 19 disclosure tracker, which lists the disclosure requirements in IFRS 19 Subsidiaries without Public Accountability: Disclosures and maps them to their equivalents in other IFRS Accounting Standards. The tracker will be updated regularly to reflect changes in both IFRS 19 and other IFRS Accounting Standards. You need to register on the tracker page to access the tracker.
  • In January 2025, as a result of horizon-scanning activities, the IASB decided to defer the decision on whether to add a project on pollutant pricing mechanisms (PPMs) to its work plan until the next agenda consultation.
  • The comment period for Exposure Draft Equity Method of Accounting—IAS 28 Investments in Associates and Joint Ventures (revised 202x) ended on 20 January 2025. The IASB received 111 comment letters from stakeholders. The IASB will discuss the feedback starting from April 2025.
  • The comment period for Exposure Draft Provisions—Targeted Improvements—Proposed amendments to IAS 37 ended on 12 March 2025. The IASB received 102 comment letters from its stakeholders. The IASB will discuss the feedback starting from Q2 2025.
  • In its March meeting, the IASB discussed the approach to its next agenda consultation, which will shape its technical strategy and work plan from 2027. The IASB will engage with consultative groups and other stakeholders to develop the content for its public consultation. The IASB expects to publish the formal consultation document through a request for information in Q4 2025.

Sustainability updates

  • In January 2025, the ISSB discussed application challenges related to the measurement and disclosure of greenhouse gas emissions and decided to propose amendments to IFRS S2 Climate-related Disclosures to respond to these challenges. The project was added to the standard-setting programme in January 2025 and the ISSB expects to publish an exposure draft in the second quarter of 2025.
    You can read the papers presented to the ISSB on the January 2025 ISSB meeting page and find more information on the Amendments to Greenhouse Gas Emissions Disclosures (Amendments to IFRS S2) project page.
  • The ISSB is also preparing exposure drafts of proposed amendments to a set of SASB Standards that it has prioritised as a part of its work plan. The ISSB will consider proposing targeted amendments to other SASB Standards to maintain consistent measurement of common topics across industries. The ISSB is also researching additional enhancements to the SASB Standards and Sustainable Industry Classification System that it could prioritise in the next phase of work.
    You can read the papers presented to the ISSB on the December 2024 ISSB meeting page and find more information on the Enhancing the SASB Standards project page.
  • The IFRS Foundation published Progress on Corporate Climate-related Disclosures—2024 Report, which describes global progress towards both mandated and voluntary corporate climate-related disclosures.
    For example, at the time of publication in November 2024 more than 1,000 companies had referenced the ISSB in their reports and 30 jurisdictions were making progress towards introducing ISSB Standards in their legal or regulatory frameworks.
    The report also explains the alignment of disclosures in the ISSB Standards with the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD). The IFRS Foundation took on responsibility for recording climate-related disclosure progress when the TCFD disbanded in 2023.
  • The Sustainability Standards Advisory Forum (SSAF) met in October 2024 and February 2025.
  • The Sustainability Consultative Committee met in December 2024 to discuss jurisdictional adoption and interoperability. You can read the meeting summary.
  • In January 2025, the IFRS Foundation appointed 117 members to the IFRS Sustainability Reference Group (SRG). The appointed members will provide a diverse range of expert views to inform the development of ISSB Standards.
  • The Q1 2025 episode of the ISSB Implementation Insights podcast is available, featuring ISSB Vice-Chair Sue Lloyd and ISSB technical staff discussing the educational materials that assist the implementation of ISSB Standards and reflecting on last year’s discussions of the Transition Implementation Group on IFRS S1 and IFRS S2.
  • In February 2025, the IFRS Foundation hosted a virtual roundtable to collect information from stakeholders to help it convert the materials acquired from the UK’s Transition Plan Taskforce (TPT) into new materials to support the transition plan requirements in IFRS S2.
  • As part of the ISSB’s commitment to supporting jurisdictions advance their approaches towards the adoption or other use of ISSB Standards, the IFRS Foundation will launch later this week a key pillar of its Regulatory Implementation Programme—the Jurisdictional Roadmap Development Tool. This tool will be available from the Around the World tab on our website.

If you have any questions regarding the cooperation of the IFRS Foundation with national standard-setters, please contact Elena Kostina, IASB Technical Staff, via the contact us button.