Convergence talks with Japan

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09 Mar 2005

Representatives of the IASB, including Board Chairman Sir David Tweedie, are meeting in Tokyo this week with representatives of the Accounting Standards Board of Japan (ASBJ) as part of an agreement between the two boards to identify ways to eliminate differences between IFRSs and Japanese standards.

The current scope of topics under consideration for convergence is limited in that it will not include:
  • standards issued after 31 March 2004 – IFRSs 5 and 6;
  • standards issued on or before 31 March 2004 that are "recently developed" – which would include the 14 Improved IASs issued by the IASB in December 2003 as well as IFRSs 2, 3, and 4;
  • standards under review or intended to be reviewed in the joint projects between the IASB and the US Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) – which currently include IAS 12, IAS 14, IAS 19, IAS 20, IAS 37, and IAS 39;
  • standards that are divergent owing to differences in the respective conceptual frameworks or basic philosophies – the ASBJ includes their new standard retaining pooling of interests accounting for business combinations in this category;
  • standards whose requirements are subject to legal restrictions or those currently considered inapplicable in Japan.
Nor will differences in the two boards' conceptual frameworks be considered for convergence. See our news story of 21 January 2005 for more information.

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