CSA Staff Notice 81-320 (Revised)
Update on International Financial Reporting Standards for Investment Funds
First published October 8, 2010, revised March 23, 2011
Purpose
This notice updates investment funds and their advisers on the adoption of International Financial
Reporting Standards (IFRS) by investment funds in Canada.
The Handbook of the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants (Handbook) refers to “investment
companies”, the majority of which are “investment funds” for the purposes of securities legislation.
This notice applies only to those investment companies that are investment funds as defined in
securities legislation and are subject to National Instrument 81-106 Investment Fund Continuous
Disclosure (NI 81-106).
1
The Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) previously published proposals relating to the adoption
of IFRS by investment funds on October 16, 2009.
2
These proposals were based on the Canadian
Accounting Standards Board (AcSB) decision to transition financial reporting for Canadian publicly
accountable enterprises to IFRS as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) for
financial years beginning on or after January 1, 2011.
The AcSB published amendments to the Handbook on October 1, 2010 that provided a one-year
deferral of the transition to IFRS for investment companies. However, the AcSB issued subsequent
amendments to the Handbook in March 2011, providing a two-year deferral of the changeover date to
January 1, 2013.
3
Background
Under International Accounting Standard 27 Consolidated and Separate Financial Statements (IAS
27), an entity is required to consolidate investments that it controls. As part of a project on
consolidation, the IASB announced that it will propose that investment companies be exempt from
consolidation and instead account for controlling interests in other entities at fair value.
4
Based on the
IASB’s proposed work plan (as at February 1, 2011), while an exposure draft is expected to be
published in Q2 2011, it appears that the IASB has not yet indicated when a final standard for
investment companies will be available.
Following the IASB announcement, the AcSB amended Part I of the Handbook to require investment
companies, as defined in and applying Accounting Guideline 18 Investment Companies, to adopt IFRS
1
The IFRS-related amendments to CSA rules for issuers that are not investment funds came into force on January 1, 2011.
2
These proposals were published in French on March 12, 2010 by the Autorité des marchés financiers and the New
Brunswick Securities Commission.
3
The AcSB Decision Summary regarding the subsequent deferral is at www.acsbcanada.org/decision-
summaries/2011/item46514.aspx.
4
The IASB work plan and projected timetable for this project can be found in the Standards Development section of the
IASB/IFRS website (www.ifrs.org/Current+Projects/IASB+Projects/IASB+Work+Plan.htm).
as issued by the IASB for annual periods beginning on or after January 1, 2013, with earlier adoption
permitted. The deferral of the mandatory changeover from January 1, 2011 to January 1, 2013 is
intended to allow the IASB’s proposed exemption from consolidation for investment companies to be
in place prior to the adoption of IFRS by investment companies in Canada.
Move to IFRS by investment funds
CSA staff are also of the view that it would be preferable for the IASB’s proposed consolidation
exemption to be in place when IFRS is adopted by investment funds in Canada. Accordingly, we will
be reviewing and revising the proposed amendments to NI 81-106, and related consequential
amendments, previously published for comment in light of the recent developments at both the IASB
and AcSB.
The CSA comment period for the proposed amendments ended on January 14, 2010, and the majority
of the comments related to the implications of IAS 27 to Canadian investment funds. Given the
proposed exemption that the IASB is now considering, the issues raised by commenters relating to
consolidation may no longer exist for the majority of investment funds. As a result, CSA staff
anticipate that the proposed amendments to NI 81-106 related to the consolidation requirement may no
longer be required.
In order to have more certainty about the scope and impact of the anticipated exemption from
consolidation for investment companies that the IASB is considering, CSA staff will take additional
time before seeking approval in each CSA jurisdiction to either republish or finalize IFRS-related
amendments to NI 81-106 and other instruments related to investment funds, with the goal of having
the necessary IFRS-related amendments for investment funds in force by January 1, 2013.
Prior to the mandatory changeover to IFRS set out in the Handbook, CSA staff consider the standards
in Part V of the Handbook to be Canadian generally accepted accounting principles (Canadian GAAP)
as applicable to public enterprises for securities legislation purposes. CSA staff recognize that some
investment funds may want to prepare their financial statements in accordance with IFRS as issued by
the IASB for annual periods beginning prior to January 1, 2013. Therefore, an investment fund that
wants to use IFRS for interim and annual financial statements relating to annual periods beginning
prior to January 1, 2013 must apply for exemptive relief from the current requirement to prepare its
financial statements in accordance with Canadian GAAP as applicable to public enterprises.
5
Investment funds filing applications for exemptive relief from NI 81-106 should also identify any
issues that early adoption may create with respect to their financial disclosure.
CSA Staff Notice 52-320 Disclosure of Expected Changes in Accounting Policies Relating to
Changeover to International Financial Reporting Standards
6
set out the CSA’s views on the disclosure
that investment funds should be providing in advance of the changeover to IFRS. Investment funds
should continue to provide appropriate disclosure about the expected impacts of the changeover to
IFRS in accordance with the guidance in CSA Staff Notice 52-320 in their annual and interim filings in
advance of the January 1, 2013 changeover date.
5
This requirement is found in section 2.6 of NI 81-106.
6
This CSA Staff Notice was published May 9, 2008.
Questions
Please refer your questions to any of:
Stacey Barker
Vera Nunes
Senior Accountant, Investment Funds
Assistant Manager, Investment Funds
Ontario Securities Commission
Ontario Securities Commission
416-593-2391
416-593-2311
sbarker@osc.gov.on.ca
vnunes@osc.gov.on.ca
Suzanne Boucher
Mathieu Simard
Analyste, Service des fonds d’investissement
Chef de service, Service des fonds d’investissement
Autorité des marchés financiers
Autorité des marchés financiers
514-395-0337, ext. 4477
514-395-0337, ext. 4471
or 1-877-525-0337, ext. 4477
or 1-877-525-0337, ext. 4471
suzanne.boucher@lautorite.qc.ca
mathieu.simard@lautorite.qc.ca
Manny Albrino
Christopher Birchall
Associate Chief Accountant
Senior Securities Analyst
British Columbia Securities Commission
British Columbia Securities Commission
604-899-6641 or 1-800-373-6393
604-899-6722 or 1-800-373-6393
malbrino@bcsc.bc.ca
cbirchall@bcsc.bc.ca
Wayne Bridgeman
Ian G. Kerr
Senior Analyst, Corporate Finance
Senior Legal Counsel
Manitoba Securities Commission
Alberta Securities Commission
204-945-4905
403-297-4225
wayne.bridgeman@gov.mb.ca
ian.kerr@asc.ca
Pierre Thibodeau
Acting Chief Financial Officer/Senior Securities Analyst
New Brunswick Securities Commission
506-643‐7751
pierre.thibodeau@nbsc-cvmnb.ca
March 23, 2011
You are being directed to the most recent version of the statute which may not be the version considered at the time of the judgment.