Business Accounting Council of Japan continued its discussion over IFRS

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27 Dec 2011

Following on from the meeting on 10 November 2011, the Business Accounting Council of Japan (BAC) met on 22 December to continue discussions on IFRS.

  • 10 November — The deliberation centered around relationship between a consolidated financial statement and a separate financial statement such as the use of potentially different accounting standards for each of them. The discussions also included relationship between the accounting standards and other related matters such as corporate laws and taxation. Majority appears to have supported a weak or no link between consolidated and separate financial statements, while some preferred consistency between two statements.
  • 22 December — The main topic was “accounting that contributes to economic activities”, which is the third item of 11 “specific aspects” proposed in August. Other topics touched on during the session included the comment letter by the ASBJ on IASB’s three-yearly agenda consultation and recent developments in the U.S. such as issuance of two SEC staff papers for the workplan (issued in November) and a speech by the SEC staff at the AICPA annual conference in earlier December. Related materials (in Japanese) are expected to be posted to the FSA’s website.

At both sessions, divergent views were expressed by members and no formal decision was made. In addition, during the one in December, a question was asked with regard future deliberation schedule at the BAC. The FSA responded that 1) remaining 8 items among 11 “specific aspects” are to be discussed, and 2) it is still possible that the decision be made in 2012; however, depending on the progress of future deliberations, a conclusion may not be reached within 2012.

The date of the next meeting, where the BAC is expected to review results of research visits to North America, Europe and Asia conducted during November to December, is yet to be announced.

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