The Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) voted in June 2015 to approve the release of three Exposure Drafts (ED):
- Accounting and Financial Reporting for Certain External Investment Pools
- Blending Requirements for Certain Component Units—an amendment of GASB Statement No. 14
- Accounting and Financial Reporting for Irrevocable Split-Interest Agreements
The Accounting and Financial Reporting for Certain External Investment Pools ED proposes new criteria for when an external investment pool (and its participants) can report all of the pool investments at amortized cost rather than fair value. The GASB has set a comment deadline of August 31, 2015. If approved, most of the provisions of the proposed new guidance would take effect beginning with fiscal year 2016, with the remainder taking effect beginning with fiscal year 2017. Comments should be addressed to the Director of Research and Technical Activities, Project No. 3-29E, and emailed to director@gasb.org
The Blending Requirements for Certain Component Units—an amendment of GASB Statement No. 14 ED proposes to require the blending of not-for-profit component units when the primary government is the sole corporate member (officer) of the corporation. This guidance would not apply to component units that have been included pursuant to GASB Statement No. 39, Determining Whether Certain Organizations Are Component Units. The GASB has set a comment deadline of October 2, 2015. If approved, the new guidance would take effect beginning with fiscal year 2017. Comments should be addressed to the Director of Research and Technical Activities, Project No. 3-28E, and emailed to director@gasb.org
The Accounting and Financial Reporting for Irrevocable Split-Interest Agreements ED addresses financial reporting for split-interest agreements (situations where a donor transfers resources to a trustee that manages their disbursement to the government and at least one other beneficiary). Examples include charitable lead trusts, charitable remainder trusts, charitable annuity gifts, and life interests in real estate. The GASB has set a comment deadline of September 18, 2015. If approved, the proposed new standard would take effect beginning with fiscal year 2018. Comments should be addressed to the Director of Research and Technical Activities, Project No. 3-26E, and emailed to director@gasb.org