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IFRS® Accounting Standards

Pension Benefits that Depend on Asset Returns

Summary

The Accounting Standards Board (AcSB) is participating in the International Accounting Standards Board’s (IASB) project to decide whether to make a narrow scope amendment to IAS 19 Employee Benefits for pension benefits that depend on asset returns.

To gather evidence for the research project, the IASB is planning to:

  • explore how a ‘capped’ ultimate cost adjustment model would apply with the use of illustrative examples; and
  • assess the use of pension benefits that depend, wholly or partly, on the return on a specified pool of assets.

Staff Contact(s)

Amanda Winter, CPA, CA Principal, Accounting Standards Board

Phone number  +1 416 204 3241
Email address  [email protected]
Shalini Gupta, CPA, CA Principal, Accounting Standards Board

Phone number  +1 647 956 6628
Email address  [email protected]

Project Status

  • Information gathering

    In 2016, the IASB added this project to its research pipeline. Between 2018 and 2021, the IASB researched the feasibility of amending IAS 19 Employee Benefits in relation to pension benefits that depend on asset returns.

  • Approving project

    The IASB decided not to develop amendments to IAS 19 because its research did not find enough evidence of pension benefits that depend on asset returns being widely offered across jurisdictions. Therefore, the IASB concluded that the cost of implementing changes outweighed the potential benefit of improved financial reporting.

  • Consulting stakeholders
  • Deliberating feedback
  • Final pronouncement
Disclaimer

This project summary has been prepared for information purposes only. Decisions reported are tentative and reflect only the current status of discussions on this project, which may change after further Board deliberations. Decisions to publish Handbook material are final only after a formal voting process.