Regulators call for end to self-appointed trustees

Gerrit Zalm, IASCF chairman

Trustees of the
International Accounting
Standards Board should be stripped of the power to appoint their own
successors, regulators have said.

European accounting regulators are calling for steps to improve the
governance of the standards board, as well as its responsiveness to
constituents.

The call for changes to the
International
Accounting Standards Committee Foundation, which oversees the work of the
IASB, followed a meeting with the regulators and IASCF chairman Gerrit Zalm.

The regulatory groups include the
European Federation of
Accountants, the European Financial Reporting Advisory Group and the
European Banking Federation.

In a letter highlighting concerns raised with Zalm, the group said that the
appointment of the trustees was of concern: ‘The current system of
self-appointment is no longer sustainable and needs to be replaced by
appointment by an independent body which could be a monitoring group… the
perception created by the fact that trustees are responsible for appointing
their own successors does not fit with views in Europe on appropriate
accountability.’

The group also hit out at the IASB’s intentions regarding fair value, which
they say should not be the only starting point of measurement of values.

‘However it emerges from IASB working papers that full fair value is on the
IASB’s agenda,’ the group said.

The IASB confirmed the meeting with the group had taken place to discuss
European views on the standard setter.