Yael Almog outlined the developments since the February meeting of the IFRS Advisory Council: establishing the Accounting Standards Advisory Forum (ASAF), its membership and initial meeting. 

Mr Teixeira commented that the ASAF was established with speed, but not in haste.  The ASAF members received all the Board papers that the IASB had used in its discussion on the Conceptual Framework, together with a ‘focus paper’, that directed the ASAF members to particular issues.

The IASB and FASB each presented their respective financial instruments impairment projects, followed by a question and answer session.

The ASAF will be meeting by conference call in July 2013, which will be followed by a full face-to-face meeting in September.  That meeting will review the staff analysis of the IASB’s impairment exposure draft and the initial feedback from leases exposure draft outreach.

Mr Teixeira explained the example of the interaction of the Asian-Oceanian Standard-Setters Group (AOSSG) representative and the standard-setters in the region.  The Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants (HKICPA) worked hard to coordinate efforts of the members of the AOSSG in responding to the conceptual framework project.

Ms Almog encouraged Council members to monitor the work of the ASAF and consider whether the respective roles of the two bodies remain appropriate.

Mr Cherry noted that he has heard very positive feedback from the initial meeting.