The IASB was made aware that it was not clear whether the scope of the exception for measuring the fair value of a group of financial assets and financial liabilities on a net basis (the ‘portfolio exception’) set out in paragraph 52 includes all contracts that are within the scope of IAS 39 or IFRS 9. In particular, questions were raised about whether the scope of the portfolio exception included contracts that are accounted for as if they were financial instruments, but that do not meet the definitions of financial assets or financial liabilities in IAS 32, such as some contracts to buy or sell non-financial items that can be settled net in cash or another financial instrument, or by exchanging financial instruments, as if the contracts were financial instruments.
The IASB did not intend to exclude such contracts from the scope of the portfolio exception. Consequently, the IASB proposes to amend paragraph 52 of IFRS 13 to clarify that the portfolio exception applies to all contracts within the scope of IAS 39 or IFRS 9, regardless of whether they meet the definitions of financial assets or financial liabilities as defined in IAS 32.
This proposed amendment will be included as part of the Annual Improvements Cycle 2011-2013.