Opening comments

Date recorded:

Mde Flores noted that EFRAG remained committed to supporting the IASB's efforts to achieve the June 2011 target date for the MoU/ Convergence projects. However, high quality should not be sacrificed in the effort to meet that target. Although June 2011 would see a significant turnover of Board members including a new Chair and Vice-Chair, continuity was provided for by the IFRSF Constitution. She also noted the continued support from the G20 and FSB for the convergence agenda, notwithstanding the re-scheduling that had been done in the past six months.

Sir David noted the comments. While recognising what EFRAG was saying, he stressed that the IASB did not want to give the US Securities and Exchange Commission 'any excuses' to postpone the decision on the use of IFRSs by US domestic issuers due in mid-2011. In addition, the FBS and G20 have been explicit that the financial instruments material must be 'done' by June 2011. Sir David noted that work was complete on several MoU projects, including Derecognition; Consolidation (round table meetings are being held in the US); Fair Value Measurement guidance; and Employee Benefits. Other projects (including financial statement presentation), while staff work would continue in the background, would generally not have Board meeting time until after June 2011. Meeting time would be given to the four priority projects: Leases, Revenue, Insurance and Financial Instruments.

There was a general discussion of the revised project timeline. Sir David noted that the US SEC was content with the re-prioritisation of the IASB's agenda and was content to have items such as financial statement presentation and liabilities/ equity delivered later than June 2011. His indication remains that the SEC 'is trying' to adopt IFRSs. If, however, that decision goes against IFRSs, the future might be very different indeed. Mde Flores noted that it was in the interests of both EFRAG and the IASB to cooperate to achieve a positive result on the major projects.

Correction list for hyphenation

These words serve as exceptions. Once entered, they are only hyphenated at the specified hyphenation points. Each word should be on a separate line.