Leading European national standard-setters submit joint comment letter on the proposed ASAF

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09 Jan, 2013

The IFRS Foundation has posted to its website a joint letter received late last year from the national standard-setters of Germany (DRSC e.V), France (Autorité des normes comptables), the United Kingdom (Financial Reporting Council) and Italy (Organismo Italiano di Contabilitá) commenting on the proposed creation of an Accounting Standards Advisory Forum (ASAF). The standard-setters believe that the current suggested size and composition of the ASAF will require continued bilateral relationships between the IASB and national standard-setters.

The IFRS Foundation issued the proposals for the creation of the Accounting Standards Advisory Forum (ASAF) on 1 November 2012. Creation of such a forum was recommended by the Trustees' strategy review to provide technical advice and feedback to the IASB from the standard-setting community.

As such, the European national standard-setters support the IFRS Foundation's proposal to establish a stable and formalised working relationship between the IASB and the national accounting standard-setters. However, they maintain that the current proposals regarding the form of the ASAF falls short of their needs and expectations. Among other points, the standard-setters comment that it is not clear from the proposals how members of the ASAF will be appointed. They also criticize the suggested composition of the ASAF: There is a) no distinction between jurisdictions with mandatory IFRS application and non-adopters, and b) a preference given to regional bodies while these (in most cases) "do not set standards and fulfil different roles".

The standard-setters implicitly conclude that the form and size currently envisaged by the IFRS Foundation "runs the risk of [...] requiring continued bilateral relationships with the IASB, therefore defeating one of the aims of the proposal".

Please click for access to the joint comment letter on the IFRS Foundation website.

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