Tweedie to defend fair value

Sir David Tweedie, IASB chairman

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

In addition, the Treasury select committee has also called on Paul Boyle, the
head of the FRC, and ICAEW chief executive Michael Izza to appear before them on
11 November.

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

The committee is inviting evidence from interested parties, to be filed by 3
November, and it plans to address several key areas. These include: the purpose
of accounts and their audience; the role fair value has played in the crisis;
whether any rule changes are needed; and the role and accountability of the
IASB.

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.