The matters discussed at the meeting, held on 29-30 March 2012, were as follows:

We have posted the above agenda for the meeting with the kind permission of the IFASS secretariat.

With the IASB beginning to focus on its post-convergence agenda and governance, the role and importance of regional and jurisdictional standard-setters going forward is a key challenge for the IFRS Foundation.  Hans Hoogervorst (IASB Chairman) commented recently about the "need for the IASB to strengthen and formalise its relationships with standard-setters, regulators and the accounting profession".

Mr. Fleck is succeeding Bill Knight who retired on 31 March after eight years as chairman.

Click for FRC press release (link to FRC website).

The revised Guide to the IFRS for SMEs booklet is designed to provide a briefing of IFRS for SMEs for lenders, creditors, and other interested parties.

In the recent edition of IFRS for SMEs Update newsletter, the staff announced the adoptions of the IFRS for SMEs in Samoa and Ecuador. In Samoa, all non-publicly accountable entities will begin using IFRS for SMEs for financial reporting periods ending on or after 30 June 2012. In Ecuador, IFRS for SMEs is effective for all non-publicly accountable entities for years ending on or after 31 December 2012.

Click for:

• A Guide to the IFRS for SMEs booklet (link to IASB website).
• IFRS for SMEs Update: March 2012 (link to IASB website).

The agenda was publicly released on 2 April 2012 and is available here.

The material presented in the Exposure Draft is proposed to be developed as an International Public Sector Accounting Standard (IPSAS), with the same level of authority as the accrual based IPSASs.

The proposed new IPSAS Standard would apply to all public sector entities other than government business enterprises. These entities would be required to issue the financial statement discussion and analysis when it issues financial statements.

The financial statement discussion and analysis would be identified clearly, distinguished from the financial statements, and would apply the same qualitative characteristics as govern the preparation of financial statements.

Comments are requested by 31 July 2012.  Click for IPSASB press release (link to IFAC website).

The Malaysian Accounting Standards Board (“MASB”) hosted the forum, which is designed to be one of the key platforms in the Asian Oceanian region for stakeholders including regulators, to discuss IFRS related policy issues.

Representatives from 22 jurisdictions attended - Australia, Brazil, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, China, Dubai, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Japan, Korea, Macao, Malaysia, Nepal, New Zealand, Pakistan, Singapore, South Africa, Syria, Thailand and Vietnam. Hans Hoogervorst (IASB Chairman), Ian Mackintosh (IASB Vice Chairman), Jeffrey Lucy, (IFRS Foundation Trustee), Charles Macek (IFRS Advisory Vice Chairman) and  three other IASB Board members also attended the Forum.

In a keynote address by Tan Sri Zarinah Anwar, Chairman, Securities Commission Malaysia, it was noted that the availability of resources is a key implementation challenge and requires regional and international cooperation to make available experts, financial assistance, build capacity and enhance education. The establishment of the Asian-Oceanian Standard-Setters Group (AOSSG) has been pivotal in facilitating such closer regional collaboration.   It is now also appropriate for IASB to bring Islamic finance into its agenda and ensure the development and implementation of  IFRS  accommodate the needs of this sector.

The Communiqué also includes discussion of:

• A reaffirmed commitment to adoption of IFRS recognising that for some jurisdictions this is achieved via a process of converging.  It was also noted that full global and regional adoption will take time, especially as stakeholders try to cope with a rapid pace of change in IFRS
• An expression of appreciation to the IASB for its efforts in conducting a thorough and comprehensive consultation on its future agenda
• Participants agreed that in working towards a set of globally accepted accounting standards, regulators have to work together not only with IASB but also with their national standard setters and regional standard setting bodies to better align local policies with these international standards and to integrate the requirements of the standards into the
  domestic legal framework
• It was also acknowledged that for IFRS to be accepted globally, the standards have to be endorsed, implemented, audited and enforced on a consistent basis.

The next meeting of the IFRS Regional Policy Forum is expected to be held in Hong Kong in 2013.

Click for access to the Communiqué (link to MASB website)