Singapore-listed firms to adopt convergence with IFRS in 2018

Singapore Exchange (SGX), together with Singapore Accounting Standards Council (ASC), said on Thursday that Singapore-incorporated companies listed on SGX will apply a new financial reporting framework similar to the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) in 2018.
The bourse said it will work closely with the ASC to engage Singapore-listed companies on the transition to the new framework.
The ASC will also continue to work with the Monetary Authority of Singapore and the SGX on other related issues, including whether and when to extend the new framework to other entities listed on SGX such as real estate investment trusts and business trusts, and the transition arrangements for entities seeking to list on SGX.
Singapore-listed companies must now apply the new financial reporting framework for annual periods beginning on or after Jan. 1, 2018.
Michael Lim, chairman of the ASC, said the new framework would "place Singapore-listed companies on a level playing field with their counterparts in the IFRS community and eliminate any perception that they may be applying standards that are different from IFRS, even though they have been IFRS-compliant in a substantive manner for more than a decade."
The ASC added the full convergence of the Singapore Financial Reporting Standards (SFRS) with IFRS for Singapore-listed companies was the strategic direction of the ASC set in 2009.
Beside, non-listed Singapore-incorporated companies may also voluntarily apply the new framework, it added.