Standards chiefs woo Euro sceptics

A charm offensive was launched in Brussels this week by the
International Accounting
Standards Board, which stands accused by MEPs of being ‘undemocratic’.

New chairman of the board of trustees Gerrit Zalm was meeting Alexander
Radwan MEP, who authored a report earlier this year criticising the body. The
parliamentarians are currently crossing swords with the body over the segmental
reporting standard IFRS 8.

Radwan wrote in the report: ‘It is not clear how [the IASB’s] work plan is
developed, how its mandates are formed, how and against which criteria its
members are chosen, or how it takes into consideration the interests of
stakeholders (including those preparers and users that are required by law to
apply international accounting standards).’

The IASB was criticised about the contentious segmental reporting standard,
IFRS 8, which was this week adopted with instructions that it be reviewed two
years after it is in place. IFRS 8 requires accounts to be filed ‘through the
eyes of management’ as is done in the US, where the standard originated.

‘Governance and accountability must be improved,’ Radwan wrote. The report is
still in a draft stage and subject to amendments. The IASB’s chairman Sir David
Tweedie this week conceded that the body may need a committee to oversee its
actions. The body is set to announce further plans imminently.

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