MPs to grill Tweedie on fair value

Sir David Tweedie, the chairman of the International Accounting Standards Board, has been summoned to Westminster to discuss fair value accounting.

In addition to Sir David, the Treasury select committee has also called Paul Boyle, the head of the FRC, and ICAEW chief executive Michael Izza.

The evidence session will take place on 11 November.

End-users of accounts including the British Bankers Association will also make a contribution during the sessions.

The committee is also calling for written evidence, due before 3 November, on several topics: the purpose, and intended audience, of financial accounts; the role that fair value accounting has played in the banking crisis, and whether any change to fair value reporting rules and requirements is appropriate; the role and accountability of the International Accounting Standards Board; and the process of amending accountancy standards.

The IASB chief has had to weather increasing political pressure in the last few weeks as proposals to suspend fair value have been made.

Sir David has attempted to stand his ground, but he may be called upon to explain the IASB's reclassification efforts, rolled out to reduce the differences between IFRS and US GAAP. This has been interpreted as a partial climbdown in some quarters.