The members of the European Association of Co-operative Banks (EACB) gladly take the opportunity to comment on the IASB consultation about General Presentation and Disclosures (Primary Financial Statements).
Our members welcome the IASB's effort to introduce improvements to the way information is communicated in the financial statements, with a focus on financial performance They appreciate in principle the IASB proposal to introduce new subtotals and categories in the statement of profit or loss, however some members have specific concerns.
While some companies and users might greatly appreciate the new subtotals and categories in the statement of profit or loss as they think that it serves them in a better way when communicating financial results and/or understanding entity specific performance, some EACB members are more critical towards the new subtotals and categories and question whether the benefits outweigh the costs and efforts associated with the new requirements in all cases.
Furthermore, the EACB believes that adjustments are needed in particular concerning the parts about integral and non-integral associates and joint ventures, unusual income and expenses and Management Performance Measures. More specifically, the EACB is not supportive of the proposal that one of the two methods (the nature of expense method or the function of expense method of analysis) – by nature or by function method – should be used to the exclusion of a mixed approach. A mixed approach should be allowed as this would result in better information provided to users.