IASB proposes amendments setting out accounting for when no foreign exchange rate exists

The International Accounting Standards Board (Board) has today published for public consultation proposed amendments to IAS 21 The Effects of Changes in Foreign Exchange Rates. The proposed amendments aim to help companies determine whether a currency can be exchanged into another currency, and what accounting to apply if the currency cannot be exchanged.

IAS 21 sets out the exchange rate a company uses when it reports foreign currency transactions or a foreign operation’s results in a different currency. However, the Standard does not set out the exchange rate to use when there is no observable exchange rate the company can use—such as when a currency cannot be converted into a foreign currency. The Board’s proposed amendments to IAS 21 would help companies identify if this situation applies to them and the accounting to apply when it does.

The proposed amendments would improve the usefulness of the information provided to investors by requiring a consistent approach to determining whether a currency is exchangeable into another currency and, when it is not, determining the exchange rate to use and the disclosures to provide.

The deadline for comments is 1 September 2021.

The Exposure Draft is accompanied by a webcast in which Board member Tadeu Cendon and members of the technical staff provide an overview of the Exposure Draft and answer some commonly asked questions.