EFRAG backs McCreevy push for IASB change

Backing internal market commissioner Charlie McCreevy's desire for more accountability and greater European influence, EFRAG expressed disappointment in its draft response to the consultation on constitutional change by the IASB's umbrella organisation.

It claimed that the current proposals risked diluting further European involvement, rather than increasing it.

EFRAG also stated that the trustees of the International Accounting Standards Committee Foundation had ignored many of the European concerns put forward by many organisations, and highlighted three key issues that needed major improvement.

These are the accountability and public oversight of the trustees and the board, the governance structure, and the composition of the trustees and the board.

'It is of the utmost importance that the trustees are in some way accountable to others, and that a proper election system is established,' wrote G”ran Tidstr”m, chairman of EFRAG's supervisory board.

'It is simply not possible to explain to European politicians that the trustees are not accountable to anyone and that they can reappoint themselves without a real challenge.'

He recommended that a final decision on constitutional review was postponed so that more radical proposals could be put forward.