NAPF bemoans ‘unnecessary’ reporting disclosures
Changes to financial reporting standards could impose “unjustified level of disclosure” on schemes, warns National Association of Pension Funds
PROPOSED FINANCIAL REPORTING standards would impose an “unjustified level of disclosure” on schemes, the National Association of Pension Funds warns
The NAPF said the Accounting Standards Board’s revamped disclosure requirements would result in significant costs by grouping schemes alongside banks and insurers.
The trade body said schemes would be forced to disclose details of the financial instruments they use, such as derivatives and hedge funds, which would result in “major costs” for large pension schemes, Accountancy Age’s sister publication Professional Pensions reports.
NAPF policy director Darren Philp (pictured) said pension funds should not be classified as financial institutions.
He said: “Pension funds would face tough disclosure requirements, starting from the wrong assumption that they are financial institutions like banks and insurers when in fact they are not.
“And on top of that, they would face further disclosure requirements specific to them, which would raise the bar even higher.
“The Accounting Standards Board should remove pension funds from the category of financial institutions and eliminate the additional disclosure requirements. The existing disclosures are perfectly adequate as they are.”
The Accounting Standard Board is consulting on three new financial reporting standards that will consolidate and simplify UK Generally Accepted Accounting Practice (UK GAAP).
The new rules are set to take effect on 1 January 2015.