ASU 2015-12 — Plan Accounting: Defined Benefit Pension Plans (Topic 960), Defined Contribution Pension Plans (Topic 962), Health and Welfare Benefit Plans (Topic 965): (Part I) Fully Benefit-Responsive Investment Contracts, (Part II) Plan Investment Disclosures, (Part III) Measurement Date Practical Expedient

This Update reduces complexity in employee benefit plan accounting, which is consistent with the FASB's Simplification initiative.

Part I: Fully Benefit-Responsive Investment Contracts

Topics 962 and 965 on employee benefit plan accounting require fully benefit-responsive investment contracts to be measured at contract value. Those Topics also require an adjustment to reconcile contract value to fair value, when these measures differ, on the face of the plan financial statements.

The amendments in Part I of this Update designate contract value as the only required measure for fully benefit-responsive investment contracts, which maintains the relevant information while reducing the cost and complexity of reporting for fully benefit-responsive investment contracts.

Part II: Plan Investment Disclosures

As new disclosure requirements have been issued or amended, employee benefit plan financial statements have been affected. Specifically, the interaction between Topic 820, Fair Value Measurement, and Topics 960, 962, and 965 on employee benefit plan accounting sometimes requires aggregation, or organization of similar investment information, in multiple ways.

The objective of Part II of this Update is to simplify and make more effective the investment disclosure requirements under Topic 820 and under Topics 960, 962, and 965 for employee benefit plans.

Part III: Measurement Date Practical Expedient

The objective of Part III of this Update is to reduce complexity in employee benefit plan accounting by providing a practical expedient that permits plans to measure investments and investment-related accounts as of a month-end date that is closest to the plan's fiscal year-end, when the fiscal period does not coincide with month-end.

This Accounting Standards Update is the final version of Proposed Accounting Standards Update EITF-15C—Plan Accounting: Defined Benefit Pension Plans (Topic 960), Defined Contribution Pension Plans (Topic 962), Health and Welfare Benefit Plans (Topic 965), which has been deleted.

Issued: July 31, 2015