Project description
Swiss GAAP FER 16 has been in force since 2006 and was last revised in 2010. On November 30, 2021, the Technical Commission of the FER Foundation commissioned the Technical Committee to subject Swiss GAAP FER 16 “Pension Obligations” to a review process (ÜPV). TShe review was successfully completed on June 21, 2023. At the same meeting, the Technical Commission commissioned the subcommittee headed by Dr. Silvan Loser to revise the technical recommendation.
Current project status
Following conceptual decisions in autumn 2023, the draft prepared by the subcommittee was discussed for the first time by the expert commission in summer 2024. Based on the input from the meeting, the subcommittee made additional clarifications and made selective adjustments to the draft text. At its meeting in November 2024, the expert commission approved the adjustments and adopted the draft for consultation. The consultation period lasted from January 6, 2025, to April 18, 2025. The consultation responses were then evaluated in detail and discussed at the expert commission meeting on June 18, 2025. At this meeting, the expert commission approved three specific amendments proposed by the subcommittee. At the meeting of the expert commission on December 2, 2025, the revised version of FER 16 was finally adopted without further changes.
Reasons for the review
The existing version of FER 16 did not specifically regulate the treatment of foreign pension plans. Since many FER users have subsidiaries abroad, this regularly led to questions in practice. Furthermore, there were only rudimentary disclosure requirements, particularly with regard to Swiss plans, which are often significant. Finally, the tables required by FER 16 in the notes to the financial statements had proven to be error-prone and difficult to understand.
Composition of the subcommission
The seven-member subcommittee was chaired by Dr. Silvan Loser, member of the FER Foundation’s Technical Committee, and covered all relevant stakeholder groups. In addition to technical experts, auditors, FER users, the stock exchange, and the authorities were 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
Consultation
The consultation took place from January 6, 2025, to April 18, 2025.
Draft of the revised Swiss GAAP FER 16 “Pension Obligations” (approved for consultation by the FER Technical Committee on November 27, 2024)
The accompanying article by Dr. Silvan Loser on the consultation appeared in the first 2025 issue of the three professional journals EXPERT FOCUS, TREX, and Standard (SwissAccounting).
Accompanying article by Dr. Silvan Loser on the results of the consultation in the first 2026 issue of the three trade magazines EXPERT FOCUS, TREX, and Standard (SwissAccounting).