IASB writes to G20 to delay deadline

The International accounting rulemaker said it will not reach full
convergence with US accounting rules by its June 2011 deadline, following
concerns there was not enough time to fully consider the implications of new
rules.

International Accounting Standards Board chairman (IASB) Sir David Tweedie
and his US counterpart, Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) chairman
Robert Herz,
wrote
to G20 leaders as they met in Gwacheon City, South Korea, informing them of
the delays.

The pair said while “many of the projects” will be completed by the June 2011
deadline, “the target completion dates for a few projects have extended into the
second half of 2011”.

Both FASB and the IASB has come under pressure to push back their timetable
following concerns from accountants, businesses and analysts that they would be
bombarded with standards, preventing them from offering meaningful feedback.

The boards would have had to release 10 standards by July to maintain their
June 2011 commitment.

Overnight, US Securities and Exchange Commission chairman Mary Schapiro also
released
a statement where she said she believed the extension would “contribute to
increased quality in the standards”.

Schapiro has previously made US adoption of international standards
conditional upon reaching the 2011 deadline, among other benchmarks.

Yesterday, she said she considered the delayed timetable “time that is well
invested”.

“Quality financial reporting standards established through an independent
process are threshold criteria against which the Commission’s future
consideration of the role of IFRS in the U.S. reporting system will be based,”
she said.

“I am confident that we continue to be on schedule for a Commission
determination in 2011 about whether to incorporate IFRS into the financial
reporting system for U.S. issuers.”

Further reading:

Chairman
Schapiro Statement on FASB-IASB Decision to Modify Timing of Certain Convergence
Projects

IASB and FASB
update to G20 Leaders

IASB
and FASB issue statement on their convergence work

Herz
moves convergence deadline six months