Although donors have increased, the funding of the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) still fell short of its 2008 target. Of the estimated £16m budget for 2008, the board has so far managed to raise only £12.5m.
Trustees have succeeded in establishing national funding regimes consistent with the principles set by the International Accounting Standards Committee (IASC), which, based on existing commitments, have raised an estimated £12.5m from the participation of thousands of market participants.
To date, the three biggest country contributions have come from the US at $US3.5m (₤1.8m); Japan, $US2.8m; and Germany, $US1.9m, in addition to voluntary payments of $US400,000 from central banks and international organisations, and $US2m each from the big four accounting firms, US corporate finance publication Financial Week reports. Audit firms BDO Seidman and Grant Thornton each contributed $US150,000, and European accounting firm Mazars, $US100,000.
Criticisms have been levelled at the funding regimes by Robert Herz, chairman of USA’s Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB), and Robert Denham, chairman of FASB’s parent foundation, who have said they ‘do not support moving US public companies to the International Finance Reporting Standard until mechanisms to adequately fund the IASB’s activities over the long term are developed.
Further reading:
High risk tax schemes set to be exposed
Comments