Mercedes 2013 Annual Report Download - page 188

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1. Significant accounting policies
General information
The consolidated financial statements of Daimler AG and
its subsidiaries (“Daimler” or “the Group”) have been prepared
in accordance with Section 315a of the German Commercial
Code (HGB) and comply with the International Financial Report-
ing Standards (IFRS) as adopted by the European Union (EU).
Daimler AG is a stock corporation organized under the laws
of the Federal Republic of Germany. The company is entered
in the Commercial Register of the Stuttgart District Court
under No. HRB 19360 and its registered office is located at
Mercedesstraße 137, 70327 Stuttgart, Germany.
The consolidated financial statements of Daimler AG are
presented in euros (€). Unless otherwise stated, all amounts
are stated in millions of euros. All figures shown are rounded
in accordance with standard business rounding principles.
The Board of Management authorized the consolidated
financial statements for publication on February 18, 2014.
Basis of preparation
Applied IFRSs. The accounting policies applied in the con-
solidated financial statements comply with the IFRSs required
to be applied in the EU as of December 31, 2013.
IFRSs issued, EU endorsed and initially adopted in the
financial year. In December 2011, the IASB published amend-
ments to IFRS 7 Financial Instruments: disclosures relating
to the offsetting of financial instruments. The additional disclo-
sure obligations relate to offset financial instruments as well
as to financial instruments which are not offset but which are
subject to global offsetting agreements or similar agreements.
The amendments to IFRS 7 are to be applied for annual periods
beginning on or after January 1, 2013 and retrospectively.
Further information is provided in Note 31.
In May 2011, IASB published IFRS 13 Fair Value Measurement,
which combines the regulations for fair value measurement
that were previously contained in the individual IFRSs into a single
standard and replaces them with a uniform IFRS framework
for measuring fair value. In compliance with the transitional
provisions of IFRS 13, the Group has applied the new provi-
sions prospectively since January 1, 2013. The initial application
of the standard does not lead to significant changes in the
measurement of assets and liabilities. Further information is
provided in Note 31.
In June 2011, IASB published amendments to IAS 19 Employee
Benefits. The amendments to IAS 19 must be applied retro-
spectively in financial statements for annual periods beginning
on or after January 1, 2013. Daimler has adjusted the figures
reported for the previous year for effects arising from application
of the amended version of IAS 19.
At Daimler, the amendments to IAS 19 lead to the following
significant effects:
Pensions and similar obligations. The Group has previously
used the corridor method, which is no longer permitted under
the revised IAS 19. As a result, actuarial losses existing in
the Group have a direct effect on the consolidated statement
of financial position and lead to an increase in provisions
for pension and similar obligations and a reduction in equity.
Since the actuarial losses will be recognized directly in other
comprehensive income, the consolidated statement of income
will in the future remain free from the effects of the amorti-
zation of the amount exceeding the corridor. Moreover, the net
interest cost approach for discounting the net pension benefit
obligation at the rate used for the measurement of the gross
pension obligation will be applied. Since the net pension
benefit obligation is reduced by any plan assets, the same
discount rate is assumed for discounting plan assets.
Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements.