A delegation of EFRAG representatives discussed with the Board various topics of interest.

Credit crisis

The Chairman informed the delegates that the Expert Advisory Panel is in the stage of finalising its guidance and noted that it is more comprehensive than the US guidance published recently. He also noted that it will be clarified that when a market is inactive and there are transactions occurring, an entity would have to identify whether these transactions were distressed or forced.

The Chairman also informed the EFRAG representatives that the IFRS 7 amendments regarding liquidity and fair value disclosures will be published soon with a 60 day comment period and a proposed effective date of 1 July 2009.

One Board member asked the EFRAG representatives about their assessment of the increased involvement of the European Commission in accounting matters and expressed his concerns over the lack of appropriate advice to the European Commission.

The EFRAG Chairman responded that he believed that the IASB reacted to the requests from constituents appropriately and reiterated that the IASB should keep the lead in the standard-setting process. He admitted that in times like these politicians might feel the need to react, but he expected things to get back to normal once the crisis is over. It was noted that there will always be political influence on accounting issues.

On the derecognition project the Chairman of the IASB informed the EFRAG representatives that they will discuss possible approaches to this, but that the Board did not plan to issue any interim Standard on this.

Debt/equity distinction

The EFRAG delegation asked the IASB why only two approaches were picked in the upcoming discussion. The Chairman acknowledged this, but stressed that these were the view of the staff and that the Board would still have to vote on how to proceed in this project. The Chairman of the IASB noted that the concerns of certain constituents with regard to partnerships and co-operatives will be addressed.

Financial Statement Presentation

The representatives from EFRAG emphasised that progress on this project is crucial, as many projects will be affected by the outcome of this project.

IASCF Foundation Trustees meeting

The Chairman of the IASB briefly discussed the just-ended Trustees' meeting in Beijing. It was noted that a final decision on phase one of the Constitution review will probably be made in January.

PAAinE update

The EFRAG Chairman gave a brief update on the Proactive Accounting Activities in Europe (PAAinE). He informed the Board that PAAinE was planning to issue two papers on income tax accounting (lead by the German and UK standard-setters) and share-based payments (led by the French standard-setter). Regarding the latter it was highlighted that this is not a principle review, but more of an analysis of what could be simplified in IFRS 2. The EFRAG Chairman also noted that there are two possible projects on common control (led by the Italian standard-setter) and on emission rights.