The following provides an overview of current IASB work, other than that referred to elsewhere in this issue of Inside Track. It should be noted that some of the decisions referred to below are tentative.

• Revisions to IAS 19 'Employee benefits' are to be proposed that would allow entities to recognise actuarial gains and losses in full in the period in which they occur, outside the profit and loss account. They are to be reported in a 'statement of recognised income and expense'. An important consequence of this is that companies that have elected to comply in full with FRS 17 ‘Retirement Benefits' will be able to maintain similar accounting when they adopt IFRS.
• Proposals are being prepared on two topics relating to financial instruments. One is to impose restrictions on the fair value option contained in IAS 39 'Financial Instruments: Recognition and Measurement': the other is on financial guarantees and credit insurance.
• IASB is continuing its project on business combinations. An exposure draft on 'Application of the Purchase Method' is at an advanced stage. There is also likely to be an exposure draft of a proposal to extend the scope of IFRS 3 'Business Combinations'.
• The comment period on ED 6 'Exploration for and Evaluation of Mineral Resources' (and on the related ASB Consultation Paper - see Inside Track 38) ends on 16 April 2004.
• Ongoing major projects that are not expected to result in publications in the next few months are: insurance contracts (Phase II); revenue recognition (joint with the US Financial Accounting Standards Board); and consolidation.

In addition, the IASB is considering amendments and revisions to a number of other standards. These include IAS 37 'Provisions, Contingent Liabilities and Contingent Assets'; IAS 12 'Income Taxes' and IAS 20 'Accounting for Government Grants and Disclosure of Government Assistance'. Some of these projects stem from IASB's intention to bring about convergence between IFRS and US accounting standards.