Write a report for the CEO of a public group company listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) after reviewing the Exposure Draft (ED/2014/1), the Comment Letters from interested parties on the Exposure Draft (ED/2014/1)

In March 2014 the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) published an Exposure Draft (ED/2014/1) Disclosure Initiative for public comment. The Exposure Draft contains proposed amendments to IAS 1 Presentation of Financial Statements. The Disclosure Initiative is made up of a number of projects and activities that explore how presentation and disclosure principles and requirements in existing Standards can be improved. The new project aims to address some of the concerns expressed about existing presentation and disclosure requirements and to ensure entities are able to use judgement when applying that Standard. Each of the proposed amendments is described in the Exposure Draft (ED/2014/1). The interested parties were invited to submit their comments on the issues identified in the Exposure Draft (ED/2014/1) electronically to the IASB website. The comment period was closed by 23 July 2014. All Comment Letters and Comment Letter Analysis can be viewed through the IASB website. Finally the amendments to IAS 1 were issued by the IASB on 18 December 2014 and the revised version of IAS 1 became mandatory from 1 January 2016. This project is more likely to have a significant impact on the financial statements of many companies in practice. You are required to write a report for the CEO of a public group company listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) after reviewing the Exposure Draft (ED/2014/1), the Comment Letters from interested parties on the Exposure Draft (ED/2014/1), and other related sources. The following two issues should be addressed and discussed in the report: a. Critically evaluate whether the proposed amendments in the Exposure Draft (ED/2014/1) will improve the provision of useful information in financial statements and disclosures for those involved in the financial reporting process (e.g. preparers, auditors, and regulators). b. Critically evaluate whether the proposed amendments in the Exposure Draft (ED/2014/1) reduce complexity and improve understanding and relevance for the users of financial statements. Your report should address and evaluate the issues identified above requirements in a critical way. It is essential to provide a justified analysis with reference to the comment letters on the Exposure Draft (ED/2014/1) using Harvard referencing in your report. There is no mark for “cut and paste”. Good critical evaluation involves (Cottrell, 2005): • identifying a wide range of other people’s opinions, arguments and conclusion; • evaluating the evidence for alternative points of view from different user groups of financial information, such as analysts, investors, stakeholders, accounting bodies, managers, audit firms (mainly big four, if available) and other relevant user groups; • weighing up opposing arguments and evidence fairly; • depth and breadth of reasoning; • accounting for why this happens, why it works or fails, why it is rational or irrational, why something is useful or useless; or good or poor. It is not enough merely to list good or poor points; • examples providing good support for arguments; • drawing conclusions about whether arguments are valid or justifiable, based on good evidence and sensible assumptions Link to comment letters: http://www.ifrs.org/Current-Projects/IASB-Projects/Amendments-to-IAS-1/ED-March-2014/Pages/Comment-letters.aspx Link to Exposure Draft: http://www.ifrs.org/Current-Projects/IASB-Projects/Amendments-to-IAS-1/ED-March-2014/Documents/ED-Disclosure-Initiative-Amendments-IAS-1-March-2014.pdf Link of The IASB Project Webpage and Comment Letter Analysis: http://www.ifrs.org/Current-Projects/IASB-Projects/Amendments-to-IAS-1/Pages/Home.aspx