International update: June 2021

The key topics covered in the May 2021 Board meeting were goodwill and impairment, and Primary Financial Statements (PFS). Much of the time spent discussing goodwill was taken up with the debate about whether to reintroduce amortisation about which stakeholders have conflicting views, as do Board members! No firm decision will be taken on this until later in the year. However, there were some constructive suggestions, which may help the Board to find a clearer way forward. A long discussion on the PFS project largely concerned an issue about classification of items in the proposed new format for income statements. No decision was taken about how to resolve the matter, but the Board agreed that the staff could do further work on one potential solution. The Board also had briefer discussions on other topics, including an issue that has arisen for insurance companies currently implementing IFRS 17, Insurance Contracts.