FASB PROPOSES DEFERRAL OF CERTAIN DISCLOSURES FOR NONPUBLIC EMPLOYEE BENEFIT PLANS
Stakeholders asked to provide comment by May 31, 2013
Norwalk, CT, April 30, 2013—The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) today issued a proposal to defer indefinitely the effective date for certain disclosures about investments held by a nonpublic employee benefit plan in the plan sponsor’s own equity securities. Stakeholders are asked to provide comments on proposed Accounting Standards Update, Fair Value Measurement (Topic 820): Deferral of the Effective Date of Certain Disclosures for Nonpublic Employee Benefit Plans in Update No. 2011-04, by May 31, 2013.
The proposal seeks to address stakeholder concerns about certain disclosure requirements that would potentially provide proprietary information about private companies through the dissemination of their employee benefit plans’ financial statements on the plan regulator’s website. The deferral would allow time for discussions between the regulator(s) and stakeholders about the specific quantitative disclosures and their potential effect on the plan sponsor as a result of making that information public.
The proposed deferral would be effective upon issuance of the final Update. That final Update is expected to be issued in June 2013.
The proposal is available on the FASB website at www.fasb.org.
About the Financial Accounting Standards Board
Since 1973, the Financial Accounting Standards Board has been the designated organization in the private sector for establishing standards of financial accounting and reporting. Those standards govern the preparation of financial reports and are officially recognized as authoritative by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. Such standards are essential to the efficient functioning of the economy because investors, creditors, auditors, and others rely on credible, transparent, and comparable financial information. For more information about the FASB, visit our website at www.fasb.org.