Mr Hoogervorst reviewed the developments in the IASB’s technical plan, especially progress on the major projects, during the last quarter.  Looking forward, he noted that the IASB was close to the end of the ‘convergence era’ and was turning its attention to replacing bilateral relations with more inclusive multilateral relations with groupings of national standard-setters or regional groupings of standard-setters .  This would ease communications and hopefully reduce the chances of non-endorsement in IFRS jurisdictions.  Notwithstanding the current state of progress towards incorporating IFRSs into the US domestic financial reporting infrastructure, Mr Hoogervorst was ‘very confident’ about the future of IFRS in the US: it is still “in the US’ interests to adopt IFRS’, he said.

Mr de Silguy (France) congratulated the IASB Chairman, noting that IFRS had deep-rooted momentum and that the more towards adopting IFRSs internationally was ‘irresistible.’

Mr Boersig (Germany) asked for clarification of the IASB’s reasons for introducing the ‘fair value through other comprehensive income’ category in IFRS 9.  Mr Hoogervorst noted that the motivation was twofold: it brought IFRS 9 closer to US GAAP; and it solved a potential problem for insurance companies adopting the forthcoming IFRS for insurance contracts.

Mr Lucy (Australia) echoed the comments about the effectiveness and leverage potential of working with regional groupings of national standard-setters, citing the Asia-Oceania Standard-Setters Group (AOSSC) as an example.

Mr Chung (Korea) highlighted a current concern (foreign currency translation) that the IASB has committed to research more deeply.  Mr Hoogervorst noted a presentation to the IFRS Advisory Council at the June 2012 meeting of the Council [this session was private and not open to observers], and said that the IASB was ‘getting on’ with the research necessary to support an agenda proposal..