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AASB 7 - Financial Instruments: Disclosure

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Summary 
Developments, Key Differences & History 
Compared to IFRS 
Interpretations 
Rejection Notices 
Questions & Answers 
Articles 
AASB website
 


 
Currency of material  
This material was last updated in August 2008.  
 
Overview 
AASB 7 Financial Instruments: Disclosures is equivalent to IFRS 7 of the same name as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board. The objective of AASB 7 is to outline the disclosures required in an entity’s financial report about its financial instruments. In particular, it requires disclosure about the significance of an entity’s financial instruments to its financial position and performance and quantitative and qualitative information about the risks arising from an entity’s financial instruments. It is applicable for annual reporting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2007. 
 

 
Main Requirements 
The main requirements of AASB 7 are: 
 
Scope (paragraphs 3-5) 
Applies to all entities to all types of financial instruments. Some exceptions include:
  • interests in subsidiaries, associates and joint ventures not accounted for under AASB 139 Financial Instruments: Recognition and Measurement
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  • employers’ rights and obligations accounted for under AASB 119 Employee benefits
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  • share-based payment transactions accounted for under AASB 2 Share-based payments
Balance sheet (paragraphs 8-19)
  • Disclose the carrying amount of each category, as defined in AASB 139, on face of balance sheet or in the notes
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  • Specific disclosures required:
    • about financial assets and financial liabilities designated at fair value through profit or loss
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    • when a financial asset has been reclassified (eg from cost to fair value)
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    • when a financial asset has been derecognised
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    • regarding collateral pledged and held
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    • for the allowance account for credit losses, showing a reconciliation of changes for each class of financial asset
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    • for compound financial instruments with multiple embedded derivatives
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    • about defaults and breaches
Income statement and equity (paragraph 20) 
Specific disclosures required either on the face of the financial report or in the notes:
  • net gains or losses on difference categories of financial instruments
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  • total interest income and total interest expense for financial instruments not at fair value through profit or loss
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  • fee income and expense
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  • interest income on impaired financial assets
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  • amount of impairment loss for each class of financial asset.
Other disclosures (paragraphs 21-30) 
  • Relevant accounting policies, including measurement bases used
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  • Information about hedge accounting, including specific information required for fair value hedges and cash flow hedges
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  • Fair value information, including disclosure of:
    • Fair value compared to carrying amount for each class of financial asset and financial liability 
    • Methods and assumptions used in determining fair value, and whether the fair values are determined by reference to published quotations or estimated using a valuation technique
    •  
    • Accounting policy for recognising day one profit or loss and a reconciliation of the aggregate difference not recognised.
Nature and extent of risks arising from financial instruments (paragraphs 31-42) 
  • For each type of risk arising from financial instrument, disclosure of:
    • The exposures to risk and how they arise
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    • Its objectives, policies and processes for mitigating risk and methods used to measure risk
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    • Summary quantitative data about risk exposure at the reporting date based on information provided to key management personnel
     
  • Credit risk disclosures for each class of financial instrument, including maximum exposure, collateral held and information about the credit quality of financial assets that are neither past due nor impaired.
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  • For financial assets that are either past due or impaired, disclosure includes:
    • An analysis of the age of financial assets that are past due but not impaired at the reporting date
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    • An analysis of financial assets that are individually impaired, including factors used in determining they are impaired
    •  
      ­
    • collateral held as security, and estimate of its fair value, unless impracticable
     
  • When an entity takes possession of collateral held as security, the nature and carrying amount of the assets obtained and if not readily convertible to cash, the policies for disposing the assets or using them in the entity’s operations.
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  • Liquidity risk disclosures include a maturity analysis for financial liabilities showing the remaining contractual maturities and a description of how the entity manages its liquidity risk.
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  • For each type of market risk the entity is exposed to at reporting date, a sensitivity analysis showing how profit or loss and equity would have been affected by changes in each variable risk. Information about the way the sensitivity analysis was performed is also required.
Appendix A 
Provides definitions of various terms, including market risk and past due. 
 
Appendix B 
Application guidance provides further information about the disclosures required. 
 
Implementation Guidance 
Provides suggestions in applying the disclosure requirements in AASB 7. 
 

 
The information provided is a brief summary of the requirements of this standard and is not intended to be used as a substitute for reading the standard itself nor does it attempt to provide any interpretative advice. To apply the standard to their particular circumstances readers are encouraged to read the text of the standard and, if necessary ,seek professional advice from a Chartered Accountant or other suitably qualified professional. The Institute expressly disclaims all liability for any loss or damage arising from reliance upon any information or inaccurate statement made in this summary.