Business Combinations under Common Control: The Gain/loss Group Perspective. What the IASB Project Leaves Unaddressed

Although BCUCCs are widespread, a clear treatment is missing under IFRS. Most contributions have taken partial views. This article innovatively provides a systematic theoretical apparatus of the role accounting plays for all the affected members of a group, with a focus on gain or loss opportunities below the consolidated statements. The method used is international technical accounting analysis under IFRS and U.S. GAAP. It shows how a BCUCC may be driven to achieve gain/loss in separate financial statements and how cross-company consistency in policies and substance may reveal gain/loss arbitrage; the interaction of principles for disposals, demergers, and business combinations; and the position of sub-holdings, which in real practice is more relevant than the ultimate parent company. This paper is timely, as the IASB has recently published a Discussion Paper. The IASB project fails to give answers to these points as it only looks at the receiving entity and consolidated statements.