1 This Standard shall be applied in the financial statements of retirement benefit plans where such financial statements are prepared.

2 Retirement benefit plans are sometimes referred to by various other names, such as 'pension schemes', 'superannuation schemes' or 'retirement benefit schemes'. This Standard regards a retirement benefit plan as a reporting entity separate from the employers of the participants in the plan. All other Standards apply to the financial statements of retirement benefit plans to the extent that they are not superseded by this Standard.

3 This Standard deals with accounting and reporting by the plan to all participants as a group. It does not deal with reports to individual participants about their retirement benefit rights.

4 IAS 19 Employee Benefits is concerned with the determination of the cost of retirement benefits in the financial statements of employers having plans. Hence this Standard complements IAS 19.