IAS 19 Amendments - Employee Benefits: Actuarial Gains and Losses, Group Plans and Disclosures

The amendments to IAS 19 included the following features:
a) introduction of an additional recognition option for actuarial gains and losses arising in post-employment defined benefit plans
b) clarification that a contractual agreement between a multi-employer plan and participating employers that determines how a surplus is to be distributed or a deficit funded will give rise to an asset or liability
c) introduction of requirements for defined benefit group plans in the separate or individual financial statements of entities within a group
d) a requirement for additional disclosures.

The Amendments to IAS 19 introduced an additional option in IAS 19 allowing entities to recognise actuarial gains and losses outside the income statement, in full, as they arise.

The Amendments required an entity using the third option to present, as part of its primary statements, a Statement of Recognised Income and Expense comprising all changes in equity arising from transactions other than with its shareholders. IAS 1 already provided for such a statement as one of the ways of presenting changes in equity. A consequential amendment to IAS 1 made the title 'statement of recognised income and expense' mandatory when such a statement is presented.

EFRAG published its comment letter to the IASB in 2004 and published its endorsement advice in 2005.