10 November 2006
The Accounting Standards Board has agreed to publish an
Amendment to Financial Reporting Standard (FRS) 17 "Retirement
Benefits". The Amendment will be published in December, and will be
effective for accounting periods ending on or after 6 April 2007,
although early adoption is encouraged.
The Amendment will align the disclosures in FRS 17 with those of
the equivalent international standard, International Accounting
Standard (IAS) 19. The Accounting Standards Board (ASB) consulted
on the Amendment in May 2006, at which time it was proposed to have
an effective date of accounting periods ending on or after 31
December 2006. The ASB has decided to allow a longer implementation
period in response to concerns from some commentators regarding the
time required to prepare for the amended disclosure
requirements.
The ASB has also decided to amend paragraph 16 of FRS 17, so
that for quoted securities, the current bid price (rather than the
mid-market value) is taken as fair value. This is a further
alignment with IAS 19, on which the ASB consulted in July 2005.
The ASB is continuing its review of the matters raised in
relation to the proposals in the May 2006 exposure draft for a best
practice reporting statement.
