FRS 36 : An Analysis of the Compliance Level and Disclosure Quality of Singaporean Listed Firms

The issue of goodwill has been a topic of intense debate. In response to growing concerns voiced around the issue, new standards which provide firms the unique opportunity to provide more transparent financial disclosures by reporting goodwill impairments when viewed by financial reporting users are required. The reporting framework in Singapore that deals with the disclosure of goodwill accounting treatment is prescribed under FRS 36 Impairment of Assets. To gain a better understanding of the characteristics of the goodwill reporting regime, developing an understanding of the level of compliance and quality disclosures related to determining the recoverable amount of the CGUs are matters of prime significance. The sample of this study consists of 192 Singaporean listed companies in the Singapore Stock Exchange (SGX) Mainboard for the first year after their transition to FRS. The results indicate that the rate of compliance with the provisions of FRS 36 and disclosure quality were very poor and failed to reach the expectations of standard setting bodies. The outcomes of this analysis also suggest that there is a high degree of complexity in relation to the conceptualisation, measurement and reporting of goodwill faced by reporting entities in Singaporean Mainboard firms