FRSC Adopts Revised Version of IFRS 1 with Improved Structure

The Financial Reporting Standards Council (FRSC) approved the adoption of the revised version of IFRS 1, First-time Adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards, as PFRS 1, First-time Adoption of Philippine Financial Reporting Standards. The revised version of PFRS 1 is effective for annual periods beginning on or after 1 July 2009.

The revised version has an improved structure but does not contain any technical changes.

Since it was issued in 2003, IFRS 1 has been amended many times to accommodate first-time adoption requirements resulting from new or amended IFRSs, and as a result the text has become increasingly complex.

In 2007, the IASB therefore proposed, as part of the annual improvements project, to restructure IFRS 1 to make it easier for the reader to understand and to allow it to accommodate more easily any future changes that might be necessary.

The revised IFRS 1 is effective from 1 July 2009. At its December 2008 meeting, the IASB decided to change the effective date of revised IFRS 1 from the initial effective date of 1 January 2009 to 1 July 2009. The amendment corrects a potential technical problem arising from the interaction of IFRS 1 and the revised IFRS 3, Business Combinations, and amended IAS 27, Consolidated and Separate Financial Statements, both published in January 2008.