IASB may delay new rules for transactions with associates, joint ventures

The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) is reviewing whether it moved too quickly on narrow-scope amendments to IFRS 10 and IAS 28.

The board published a proposal Monday that would postpone the date when entities must change some aspects of how they account for transactions between investors and associates or joint ventures. The narrow-scope amendments to IFRS 10, Consolidated Financial Statements, and IAS 28, Investments in Associates and Joint Ventures, originally were published in September 2014.

The original amendments affect how an entity should determine any gain or loss it recognizes when assets are sold or contributed between the entity and an associate or joint venture in which it invests. When published, the amendments were scheduled to be effective from annual periods beginning on or after Jan. 1, 2016.

The proposed postponement would remove the requirement to make these changes by 2016. Instead, entities could delay implementation until after the IASB carries out a broader review it plans to undertake. This review may result in the simplification of accounting for such transactions as well as other aspects of accounting for associates and joint ventures.

Comments on the proposal are sought by Oct. 9 and can be submitted at the IASB’s website.

—Ken Tysiac (ktysiac@aicpa.org) is a JofA editorial director.