BC48 The IFRS requires an entity to disclose geographical information about non‑current assets, excluding specified items. The Board considered comments made by some respondents who advocated country‑by‑country disclosure, others who requested specific items of geographical information to be disclosed, and some who expressed reservations with the proposed requirement relating to disclosure of country of domicile.

BC49 A coalition of over 300 organisations from more than 50 countries known as the Publish What You Pay campaign requested that the scope of the IFRS should be extended to require additional disclosure on a country‑by‑country basis. The objective of such additional disclosure would be to promote greater transparency in the management of amounts paid by the oil, gas and mining industries to governments in developing or transitional countries that are resource‑rich. The view of these campaigners was that publication of specific payments made by those companies to governments is in the interest of all users of financial statements.

BC50 Because the IFRS is being developed in a short‑term convergence project to converge with SFAS 131, the Board decided that issues raised by the Publish What You Pay campaign relating to country‑by‑country disclosures should not be addressed in the IFRS. The Board was of the view that such issues merit further discussion with bodies that are currently engaged in similar issues, for example the United Nations, International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board, International Monetary Fund, World Bank, regional development banks and Financial Stability Forum.