Tweedie defends pace of reforms to EU finance ministers
29 Jun 09
Sir David Tweedie, chairman of the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB), has rejected calls to cut and paste impairment rules from US GAAP to speed up the pace of reform
Tweedie told the council of European ministers for economic and financial affairs in Luxembourg that the (IASB) will issue a final standard available for use this year, which addresses impairment and fair value. The new International Financial Reporting Standards may be used in 2009 financial statements.
“The IASB understands that the EU finance ministers have expressed an increasing level of concern regarding the pace and substance of our response to the issues raised by the European Commission,” said Tweedie.
“We take these concerns very seriously. In particular, we recognise that we have to do a better job of keeping you abreast of our response to the crisis and how we are dealing with issues of concern to the Council.”
Tweedie said that it was the IASB’s plan to resolve issues regarding impairment rules and reclassification out of the fair value option, through a comprehensive revision of IAS 39. “A new standard that deals with your concerns will be in place by year end.”
In his blog on www.camagonline.co.uk, ICAS chief executive Anton Colella wrote: “The IASB has come under heavy political pressure to act more quickly in relation to the financial crisis. The body’s approach, quite rightly, has been to concentrate on getting the rules right, rather than rush through a quick fix to satisfy the politicians. Sir David made that clear at yesterday’s meeting and endeavoured to better inform EU governments of the body’s response to the crisis.”