Where more than one employer participates in a defined benefit scheme (i.e., multi-employer, group scheme or state scheme), FRS 17 permits defined contribution accounting (with appropriate additional disclosures) if the employer’s contributions are set in relation to the current service period only, or the contributions are affected by a surplus or deficit and the employer is unable to identify its share of the underlying assets and liabilities in the scheme on a consistent and reasonable basis.
For group schemes, this opens the possibility that in certain circumstances, no individual entity in the group recognises the defined benefit obligations, although in the group financial statements containing the entities, it is recognised.