Due Process Handbook and comment letters

The Trustees of the IFRS Foundation, responsible for the governance and oversight of the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB), published an updated version of the IFRS Foundation Due Process Handbook (‘the Handbook’) in February 2013.

The Handbook describes the steps followed by the IASB and the Interpretations Committee in developing or revising International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs) and Interpretations, required or permitted for use by companies in more than 100 countries.

The revised Handbook fully incorporates the necessary due process enhancements recommended by the 2012 Monitoring Board Governance Review and Trustees’ Strategy Review, as well as recommendations from the Trustees’ Review of the Efficiency and Effectiveness of the IFRS Interpretations Committee.

The revised Handbook:

• consolidates the due process requirements of the IASB and the IFRS Interpretations Committee into a single document;
• outlines the responsibilities and activities of the Trustees’ Due Process Oversight Committee (DPOC), together with the process for handling perceived breaches of due process;
• includes a more extensive discussion of the process of assessing the likely effects of an IFRS;
• describes the research programme, which has become the development base from which potential standards-level projects will be identified;
• outlines the practice that the IASB and Interpretations Committee follow for addressing matters that are narrow in scope;
• describes how the IASB expects to conduct and complete post implementation reviews; and
• includes consideration of due process requirements related to the extensive programme of outreach activities that is now routinely conducted by the IASB as part of its standard-setting activities.