GERMANY - The German Accounting Standards Board (GASB) is to hold a public discussion following a draft report released in August discussing the IAS19 minimum funding problem.

The conference, to be held at the Airport Conference Centre in Frankfurt on October 6 will also discuss reports regarding the amendments to IAS 32 and the exposure draft ‘Conceptual Framework Project: Objective and Qualitative Characteristics'.

IPE reported last month that the International Financial Reporting Interpretations Committee (IFRIC) released the draft report, named ‘The Asset Ceiling: Availability of Economic Benefits and Minimum Funding Requirements', in response to calls for clarification of the interaction between statutory or contractual minimum funding requirements and IAS19.

The draft intended to clarify how to determine the limit on the asset that an employer's balance sheet may contain in respect of its pension plan.

A spokesperson of the GASB explained that the board organises these public discussions to gauge the public's opinions.  

She expects that a wide public will attend the discussion.