IASB Amends IFRS for First-Time Adopters, Releases Proposal on Rate-Regulated Activities

The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) on Thursday published amendments to IFRS 1, First-time Adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards, along with an exposure draft on accounting for rate-regulated activities.

The amendments to IFRS 1:

·         Exempt entities using the full cost method from retroactive application of IFRS for oil and gas assets.

·         Exempt entities with existing leasing contracts from reassessing the classification of those contracts in accordance with IFRIC 4, Determining whether an Arrangement contains a Lease, when the application of their national accounting requirements produced the same result.

The document Additional Exemptions for First-time Adopters (amendments to IFRS 1) is available by subscription at iasb.org.

According to an IASB press release, the objective of the proposals on rate-regulated activities is to establish how assets and liabilities resulting from rate-regulated activities should be recognized and measured under IFRS. If adopted, the proposals would:

·         Define regulatory assets and regulatory liabilities;

·         Set out criteria for their recognition;

·         Specify how they should be measured; and

·         Require disclosures about their financial effects.

The IASB said it was asked for guidance on the issue from many jurisdictions. Clarifying the accounting for rate regulation is of particular importance for jurisdictions that are in the process of adopting IFRS and where accounting for the effect of rate regulation is in place for some sectors. In those cases entities are currently recognizing sometimes significant regulatory assets and liabilities by reference to the specific U.S. standard.

Comments are due Nov. 20. The ED is available here.