IASB Chair discusses collaboration with EFRAG
07 Dec 2022
At the EFRAG anniversary conference entitled ‘Where is corporate reporting going?’, IASB Chair Andreas Barckow noted the special relationship the IASB had with the European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG) over the years.
In the first part of his speech, Mr Barckow looked back over the 21 years of collaboration between IASB and EFRAG and called them "21 years of shared success". When, in 2002, Europe adopted the IAS Regulation requiring companies listed on regulated securities markets to prepare their consolidated financial statements in accordance with International Accounting Standards from 2005 onwards this encouraged most of the rest of the world to follow suit. Mr Barckow pointed out that, therefore, the IASB's success is also Europe’s success.
Mr Barckow also noted EFRAG’s ongoing contribution to the technical work of the IASB and praised it as being well informed and immensely helpful. He noted that at times EFRAG may bring different perspectives to the table than does the IASB, but be also stressed that the discussions and debates have always been conducted with the aim of enhancing financial reporting and over the years the IASB and EFRAG have collectively resolved many reporting challenges.
In the second part of his speech, Mr Barckow looked at the future. He noted as key priority for both the IASB and EFRAG the necessity to balance the varied needs of a wide range of stakeholders. The standard setters need to carefully choose areas to concentrate on and to be mindful of stakeholders’ capacity to cope with changes. As overall aim of the collaboration between the IASB and EFRAG Mr Barckow stressed "maintaining and further enhancing a global financial reporting language and [...] fostering one global capital market".
Mr Barckow's overall message at EFRAG's 21st anniversary conference was:
The IASB and EFRAG certainly have a special relationship. It spans many years of collaboration, debate and discussion. We have always shared a common goal, regardless of our stances on various matters. That goal is to create a global passport in financial reporting for multinational companies — with EFRAG from an EU perspective, and the IASB as the international standard-setter.
Please click to access the full transcript of the speech on the IFRS Foundation website.
