The Trustees of the IFRS Foundation are inviting stakeholder comment on proposed amendments to its Due Process Handbook, the procedural requirements followed by the International Accounting Standards Board and the IFRS Interpretations Committee.
The Trustee’s Due Process Oversight Committee (DPOC) is responsible for overseeing the Board and the Interpretations Committee’s compliance with the due process set out in the Handbook. The due process is based on three principles: transparency; full and fair consultation; and accountability.
The Trustees have reviewed the Handbook and proposed amendments to ensure it is up-to-date in light of the activities of the Board and Interpretations Committee, remains fit for purpose and continues to reflect best practice. The main proposed changes are to:
- update the procedures relating to the use of effects analysis—assessing the likely effects of a new or amended IFRS Standard—to ensure that they are consistent with current activities and make it clear that such analyses take place at all stages of the standard-setting process; and
- clarify the role and status of agenda decisions published by the Interpretations Committee and amend the Handbook to make agenda decisions a tool for the Board.
In addition, the proposed amendments aim to clarify the categories of education material produced by the IFRS Foundation; refine the consultation requirements for adding major projects to the Board’s work plan; clarify the role of the IFRS Advisory Council; and clarify the processes for approving amendments to the IFRS Taxonomy and the DPOC’s role in overseeing the IFRS Taxonomy due process.
The proposed amendments reflect responses to a stakeholder perception survey in 2017 that showed the Foundation’s due process is highly regarded but that some stakeholders question whether the due process could be made more efficient without having a negative impact on the quality of work.
Alan Beller, Chair of the IFRS Foundation Trustees’ Due Process Oversight Committee, said:
The IFRS Foundation’s due process is fundamental to the transparency, quality and legitimacy of the work of the Board and the Interpretations Committee, because it enables stakeholders from all over the world to observe and engage with the development of IFRS Standards.
As a consequence of the proposed amendments to the Handbook regarding the Advisory Council, the Trustees are also proposing a corresponding narrow-scope amendment to the IFRS Foundation’s Constitution.
View the consultation document here. Comments are due by 29 July 2019.
