Financial Instruments: Impairment
The Board met for a special meeting relating to the IAS 39 replacement project. Several Board members and FASB staff joined the meeting via video link or via phone.
Drafting of the exposure draft and comment period
The staff introduced the session by summarising tentative decisions made by the Board. The Board authorised the staff to proceed with drafting the exposure draft (ED). On formal vote, one Board member indicated he would dissent from publishing of the ED as he did not agree with the proposed approach.
The Board agreed to extend the comment period of the ED to 8 months to allow sufficient time for the Expert Advisory Panel (EAP) to articulate its recommendations. This timeline would not endanger the agreed timetable to publish final IFRS in December 2010. The Chairman asked if it was more appropriate to have a shorter comment period and to allow the EAP to respond to the comment letters. The staff replied that it would not recommend such alternative as in that case the comment period would coincide with high reporting season. Moreover, staff stressed that extended comment period was also designed to allow constituents who usually do not comment on the Board's proposals to have sufficient time to express their views.