IFRS Foundation updates standard-setting handbook

The International Financial Reporting Standards Foundation has revised its Due Process Handbook, outlining the steps used for developing standards at the International Accounting Standards Board and the International Sustainability Standards Board overseen by the foundation.

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The handbook has mainly been updated to reflect the creation of the ISSB and its standards. It also includes feedback from stakeholders, who expressed support for the proposed revisions during the public consultation on updating the handbook.

The IFRS Foundation noted that the update doesn’t fundamentally change the process itself, but clarifies that the IASB and the ISSB follow the same rigorous, inclusive and transparent standard-setting process.

The revised handbook also contains some minor enhancements and clarifications, as in its explanation of the purpose of post-implementation reviews of standards, the role of the IFRS Interpretations Committee, the process for consulting on minor improvements to standards, and the review process for educational materials.

The handbook also describes the process for making changes to the SASB standards, which the ISSB inherited from the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board, and companies are required to consider when applying the ISSB’s standards. Any amendments to the SASB standards are consulted on in the same way as for IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards and are decided on by the ISSB in public meetings, the IFRS Foundation noted, based on the principles of transparency, full and fair consultation and accountability.

The Trustees’ Due Process Oversight Committee led the work on updating the handbook.

“The rigorous, inclusive and transparent due process underpins the Foundation’s development of reporting standards for capital markets globally,” said Steven Maijoor, an IFRS Foundation trustee who chairs the Due Process Oversight Committee, in a statement Thursday. “The Handbook explains in detail how the IASB and the ISSB develop their requirements.”

The handbook and a project summary and feedback statement summarizing how the trustees have responded to stakeholder feedback are available on the IFRS Foundation website. Maijoor also appears there in a video providing a high-level summary of the revised handbook.