Project description
Swiss GAAP FER 16 has been in force since 2006 and was last revised in 2010. On 30 November 2021, the Commission of Experts of the FER Foundation commissioned the Committee of Exerts to subject Swiss GAAP FER 16 “Pension benefit obligations” to a review procedure. The review was successfully completed on 21 June 2023. At the same meeting, the Commission of Experts mandated the subcommission headed by Dr. Silvan Loser to revise the recommendation.
Current project status
Following basic conceptual decisions in autumn 2023, the draft prepared by the subcommission was discussed by the Commission of Experts for the first time in summer 2024. Based on the input from the meeting, the subcommission made additional clarifications and adapted the draft text in certain areas. At its meeting in November 2024, the Commission of Experts approved the amendments and released the draft for consultation. The consultation period runs from 6 January 2025 to 18 April 2025.
Reasons for the review
Currently, the treatment of foreign pension plans is not specifically regulated. Since many FER users have subsidiaries abroad, this regularly leads to questions in practice. Furthermore, there are only rudimentary requirements for disclosure, especially with regard to the often essential Swiss plans. Last but not least, the tables in the notes to the financial statements required by FER 16 have proven to be error-prone and hard to understand.
Composition of the subcommission
The subcommission consists of seven members and is chaired by Dr. Silvan Loser, a member of the FER Foundation’s Committee of Experts, and covers all relevant stakeholder groups. Thus, in addition to technical experts, auditors, FER users, the stock exchange and the authorities are also represented.
- Simon Bayer, Stadler Rail, Representative user
- Stefan Haag, PwC, Representative of the Accounting Commission True and Fair View, EXPERTsuisse
- Dr. Reto Leibundgut, c-alm, Representative actuaries/pension fund experts
- Dr. Silvan Loser, KPMG, Head subcommission FER 16
- Erich Meier, KPMG, Representative of the Commission for Occupational Pension Plans (BVG), EXPERTsuisse
- Philipp Rohrbach, Representative Federal Social Insurance Office
- Stefan Suter, Representative SIX Exchange Regulation
Please address any questions to Dr. Silvan Loser, member of the subcommission / project manager “Swiss GAAP FER 16 – Pension benefit obligations”, Tigerbergstrasse 9, CH-9000 St. Gallen, e-mail: fachsekretaer@fer.ch.