IASB Chairman’s report
Hans Hoogervorst reviewed activity on the IASB’s agenda projects since June 2012. He noted that it was increasingly unlikely that the IASB and the US Financial Accounting Standards Board would reach a common solution on financial instrument impairment: however, an open channel of communication remained between the two Boards. He noted that, in the absence of a clear political indication on the domestic use of IFRSs in the US, reaching agreement between the two Boards would be challenging. Some Council members noted that it might be necessary to complete the IASB project alone as a way of moving the IFRS 9 model forward.
Mr Hoogervorst noted the proposal (see Tuesday) to establish an Accounting Standards Forum, composed of national accounting standard-setters and regional groupings of such bodies. He hoped that, once established, the Forum could be used as a ‘working group’ for the Conceptual Framework project.
Some Council members challenged the decision of the IASB not to expose the entire Insurance Contracts model, but rather to seek comments on specific aspects of the Board’s revised proposals. In particular, Council members from the insurance industry in North America and Japan wanted full re-exposure. However, the representative of the International Association of Insurance Supervisors thought that broad re-exposure would prolong the project too far. The IFRS world needed the final standard sooner rather than later. In particular, IFRS 4 was increasingly seen as unsatisfactory.
