Accounting Standards Board to postpone full FRS17 implementation. (Pensions).

Financial Management (Chartered Institude of Management Accountants), September, 2002

Businesses have welcomed the decision by the Accounting Standards Board (ASB) to defer the introduction of the FRS17 accounting standard.

Both employers and employees will benefit from the postponement, according to David Fairs, pensions partner at KPMG. "Deferral of full adoption of the standard may mean that some companies will reconsider closing their final-salary schemes," he said.

Christine Farnish, chief executive of the National Association of Pension Funds, agreed. "This is encouraging news. FRS17 has begun to damage occupational pensions by forcing companies to publish a snapshot of the funding levels of their schemes," she said.

The ASB has issued an exposure draft delaying the full adoption of FRS17. In the meantime, UK companies...