Project Types

Research projects relate directly to the UKEB's guiding principle of thought leadership as well as its other three guiding principles, as follows:

• Accountability: research projects are informed by relevant evidence and by consultation with UK stakeholders. 
• Independence: whilst research projects may involve collaboration with others, the UKEB will assess projects independently and act independently in the interests of the UK long-term public good.
• Transparency: research projects will include a feedback statement to allow stakeholders to understand the conclusions reached.  

Research projects build on, and complement, the UKEB’s influencing strategy. Their objective is to influence and improve financial reporting both in the UK and globally by:

• identifying, and promoting, new ways of thinking about, and solving, deficiencies in financial reporting, new and emerging issues, and complex financial reporting problems.
• influencing the long-term agenda and development of international accounting standards.
• supporting the work of the IFRS Foundation and others responsible for international accounting standards.

A core part of the UKEB's statutory functions is influencing the development of high-quality international accounting standards suitable for use in the UK which:

• support the efficient allocation of capital and help to maintain the UK’s position as a leading capital market.
• improve the quality of information reported by UK entities.
• meet emerging issues in the UK financial reporting environment.
• take account of the costs and benefits to UK stakeholders of reporting under international accounting standards.

The UKEB adopts a proactive approach to influencing and stakeholder outreach and seeks transparency in the publication of public consultation feedback statements which set out how the UKEB has responded to stakeholder input.

The UKEB influences by:

• contributing to the IASB’s research agenda.
• responding to the IASB’s due process documents.
• seeking views from UK stakeholders on emerging issues.
• engaging with other National Standard Setters.
• carrying out stakeholder outreach activities on current projects.

Stakeholder outreach activities may include: surveys; roundtables; panel events; public consultation on draft comment letters; and field testing.

Interaction between EU-adoption and UK-adoption

The UK left the EU at the end of the Transition Period on 31 December 2020.Amendments to existing standards adopted by the EU and added to the EU Official Journal before the end of the Transition Period, are available for use by UK companies and form part of the UK-adopted international accounting standards. IASB Amendments or Standards that were not adopted in the EU before the end of the Transition Period will need to be adopted by the UK.UK companies wishing to use any IASB Amendments or Standards that have not been adopted by the EU by the end of the Transition Period in their 31 December 2020 accounts, will be able to use those Amendments or Standards only after they have been adopted for use in the UK.

Transition Period Completed Projects

The Transition Period completed projects are the projects for which the UKEB secretariat undertook endorsement activities in 2020. This was due to the uncertainty in timing of EU adoption of these amendments.​​Transition Period completed projects are as follows:​

• Interest Rate Benchmark Reform - Phase 2
• Amendments to IFRS 4 - Extension of the Temporary Exemption From Applying IFRS 9

Overview of Endorsement Criteria

In accordance with regulation 7(1) of the Statutory Instrument (SI) 2019/685 International Accounting Standards and European Public Limited-Liability Company (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations, the endorsement criteria are:

• The standard is not contrary to either of the following principles:
  • • an undertaking’s accounts must give a true and fair view of the undertaking’s assets, liabilities, financial position and profit or loss;
    • consolidated accounts must give a true and fair view of the assets, liabilities, financial position and profit or loss of the undertakings included in the accounts taken as a whole, so far as concerns members of the undertaking;
• the use of the standard is likely to be conducive to the long term public good in the United Kingdom; and
• the standard meets the criteria of understandability, relevance, reliability and comparability required of the financial information needed for making economic decisions and assessing the stewardship of management.

Click for further information on the true and fair view.

Overview of Long Term Public Good Assessment

• Whether likely to improve quality of financial reporting
• Costs and benefits
• Whether use of the standard is likely to have an adverse effect on the UK economy

UKEB Outreach

• Outreach with UK stakeholders
• Draft endorsement criteria assessments issued for public comment

Assessing the impact of an international accounting standard, after it has been adopted and has been in use for a period of time, is a key part of the process for ongoing development of high-quality international accounting standards.

The UKEB's post-implementation review (PIR) projects may be driven by a UKEB initiated PIR or it may be in response to the UKEB engaging with a PIR initiated by the IASB.

UKEB Remit

The UK Government’s ‘Green Finance Roadmap’, published in October 2021, set out the commitment to adopting the IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards for use by the UK registered entities. This commitment was a core component of the economy wide ‘Sustainability Disclosure Requirements’ (SDR) regime.  As such, like many other jurisdictions, the UK Government intends to establish a framework for the endorsement and adoption of IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards. In the UK, no single organisation has yet been delegated a statutory function to consider and adopt IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards for use in the UK. 

To assist with the assessment and endorsement of IFRS S1 General Requirements for Disclosure of Sustainability-related Financial Information and IFRS S2 Climate-related Disclosures, the UK government has established a Policy Implementation Committee (PIC) and a Technical Assessment Committee (TAC), both of which include representatives from the UKEB (UK Sustainability Disclosure Standards – 2 August 2023).

The UKEB is assisting the UK Government by carrying out work in this area to consider the overlap or impact of the proposed ISSB IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards with IFRS Accounting Standards. In addition, the data gathered will help the UKEB to obtain insight on UK companies’ existing experience of reporting on climate-related matters.

UKEB Projects

The ISSB published an RfI Consultation Agenda Priorities on 4 May 2023 and requested comments by 1 September 2023. The UKEB requested stakeholder views on:

• The strategic direction and balance of the ISSB’s activities
• The suitability of criteria for assessing which matters to prioritise and add to the ISSB’s work plan.
• New research and standard-setting projects that could be added to the ISSB’s work plan

The UKEB draft response focussed primarily on the first two areas, along with the appropriateness and scope of a possible project on integration in reporting.

Final Comment Letter

The UKEB published a final comment letter on 11 August, 2023.

The UKEB is very supportive of the ISSB’s objective to develop standards – in the public interest – that will result in a high quality, comprehensive baseline of sustainability disclosures focused on the needs of investors and the financial markets.

While the UKEB supports the ISSB and its objectives it also believes that the next two-year period will be crucial to establishing the credibility and success of the ISSB global baseline.

The UKEB recommends that the ISSB focuses on consolidation. This requires ensuring smooth adoption and implementation of IFRS S1 and S2 and working with the IASB to deliver standards and guidance that produce connected information.

Sustainability and financial reporting must provide investors with high-quality, comparable, and decision-useful information. Without this consolidation investors will not get the clear understanding of the impact of sustainability on the financial statements that they have told us that they are seeking.

The UKEB is carrying out the following work in this area, to consider the overlap or impact of the proposed ISSB IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards with IFRS Accounting Standards.

Research

A research project on reporting climate-related matters in financial statements was approved for commencement by the UKEB at the February 2023 UKEB Board meeting. The evidence gathered will help the UKEB to obtain insight on the UK companies’ existing experience of reporting on climate-related matters and the connectivity between sustainability reporting and financial reporting in this respect. This will help the UKEB to provide evidence based responses to both the IASB, on its project on Climate-related Risks in the Financial Statements, and to the ISSB, on its RFI on its future agenda setting. 

• The scope, approach and deliverables for the UKEB’s research project are set out in the Project Initiation Plan: Climate-related Matters
• The final report on Climate-related Matters: Summary of Connectivity Research.
• The final report on A Study in Connectivity Analysis of 2022 UK Company Annual Reports.

UKEB Secretariat Papers on Potential Connectivity Issues

The UKEB Secretariat has presented to the Board a series of preparatory papers, focusing on connectivity between the IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards and International Accounting Standards. The papers are developed to act as background material to inform the UKEB’s consideration of the key matters related to connectivity as it develops its own position.

• Asset recognition, measurement, and impairment (see Appendix B to the embedded paper)
• Liabilities and Provisions
• Connectivity – UKEB Staff Paper Fair Value Measurement
• Other papers to follow at future Board meetings

UKEB Stakeholder Groups

To inform the UKEB’s work in this area, the following groups have been set up:

• National Standard-Setters Sustainability Forum.
• Sustainability Working Group.

UK Sustainability Disclosure Standards – 2 August 2023

Strategic projects will cover the UKEB's work in relation to IASB agenda consultations and any other matters of a more overarching nature which do not specifically fall within one of the other five project types.