ASCG comments on proposed amendments to IAS 28

On 20 April 2026, the ASCG has submitted its comment letter on ED/2026/1 Amendments to the Fair Value Option for Investments in Associates and Joint Ventures (Proposed amendments to IAS 28) to the IASB.

While we welcome the intention of the IASB to provide a solution in time for the change to be available to entities by the effective date of IFRS 18, we do not support the proposal of limiting the scope of the fair value option in IAS 28 to certain entities. Thus, we support the alternative views expressed in the ED that consider an unrestricted fair value option to be a more principles-based alternative.

We highlight that an unrestricted fair value option would also mitigate many of the existing application challenges of the equity method touched on in ED/2024/7 Equity Method of Accounting (IAS 28 Investments in Associates and Joint Ventures (revised 202x)) for any entity that elects the fair value option in IAS 28. In this way, it would be easier for preparers to apply and contribute to reducing the existing diversity in practice in the application of IAS 28 as well as to increasing the comparability of reported information.

We could support the IASB’s limited proposals if more importance is given to the timing constraints arising from the intended alignment with IFRS 18 than to conceptual considerations for a more comprehensive change.

In this case, we strongly recommend that, in its forthcoming agenda consultation and outside of the process of finalising the proposed amendments, the IASB considers seeking stakeholders’ views on whether to have an unrestricted fair value option in IAS 28 for all entities.