Speaking today at the IFRS Foundation’s annual European Conference held in Zurich, Switzerland, Hoogervorst will announce that the completion of several significant standards allows the board to focus its efforts on increasing the effective communication of financial statements.

‘Valuable information gets drowned out by “tick the box” disclosures and voluminous, but poorly organised and presented, financial statements. For the investor, it is often difficult to see the woods through the multitude of information trees,’ Hoogervorst will say in his speech.

‘We will take a fresh look at how financial information is presented, how it is grouped together, and in what form it is made available.’

The better communication initiative will be tackled through five methods.

Primary financial statements: improving the organisation and structure of the ‘face of financial statements’ (statements of financial position, financial performance and cash flows);

Disclosure initiative: improving the quality and usefulness of financial disclosures through amendments;

Financial instruments with the characteristics of equity (FICE): clarifying the definition, presentation and disclosure requirements for such instruments;

Digital reporting: further developing the IFRS taxonomy to ensure it meets electronic reporting needs and remains fit for purpose; and

Non-financial reporting: assessing strategic challenges and exploring any potential future role that the IASB may play in this area.

Hoogervorst also announced that the IASB will be playing a more active role in supporting jurisdictions in the implementation of new and existing IFRS Standards.