Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask His Majesty's Government, with regard to investment in the UK stock market by pension funds, what assessment they have made of whether the use of Financial Reporting Standard 17 and International Accounting Standard 19 complies with regulation 7(1) of the International Accounting Standards and European Public Limited-Liability Company (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (SI 2019/685), which requires that use of a standard be conducive to the long-term public good of the UK, and the Endorsement Board assessment that this requirement should include the consideration of any adverse affect on the UK economy.

Financial Reporting Standard 17 Retirement Benefits was superseded by Financial Reporting Standard 102 from 1 January 2015 onwards. As Financial Reporting Standard 102 is a UK standard, and not an international accounting standard, it is not subject to the assessment criteria set out in SI 2019/685.

In 2003, the EU formally adopted International Accounting Standard 19. The standard, and subsequent amendments were assessed against similar criteria to those in SI 2019/685, now used by the UK Endorsement Board.

No retrospective assessment of International Accounting Standard 19 was required, or was conducted, for the UK’s onshoring of EU adopted international accounting standards following the UK’s exit from the EU.