Alcune problematiche applicative dell’IFRS 2 alla luce della diffusione dei piani di stock option in Italia

The transition to IFRS 2 (Share-based payments) in the Italian context introduces relevant innovations to stock option accounting, in terms of accounting treatment, valuation and disclosure. According to Italian GAAPs, the only impact of stock options on the annual report of listed companies was the equity increase after option exercise, without any expense recognition in the P&L or fair value disclosure in the notes. In such a context, the adoption of IFRS 2 - requiring to recognise a stock option expense measured at fair value when options are issued – is a radical change aimed at enhancing transparency over this form of compensation. In the light of these considerations, the primary purpose of this article is to identify and discuss potential application issues of IFRS 2. In pursuit of this objective, first it outlines a picture of the Italian context, exploring the diffusion of share-based plans and their main features among the largest Italian blue chips in the manufacturing and service industry. Application issues are discussed more in detail with reference to a simulation performed on the IFRS 2 adoption for a real stock option plan. Then, the article presents the results of an analysis carried out on the first half-year reports applying IFRS 2 in the Italian context, highlighting different choices made by listed firms to manage application issues. The article is structured as follows. The first section describes the Italian context before the mandatory adoption of IFRS 2 in terms of the diffusion and main features of share-based plans (through an analysis of 2003 annual reports). Section two presents the main changes brought by IFRS 2 in terms of accounting treatment, valuation and disclosure. The next section discusses the possible application of IFRS 2 on a real case drawn by a 2003 blue chip annual report, highlighting the hypotheses that managers must develop and the degree of discretion of the IFRS 2 valuation process. Section four focuses on the analysis of the first application of IFRS 2 in 2004 half-year reports of a sample of Italian blue chips. The last section provides conclusions.