High Profile Accounting Monitoring Board for IFRS Hints at Support for Convergence from U.S.; SEC's Schapiro is a member

Talks to harmonise standards receive boost from a high-powered international oversight body this week.

The oversight board, known as the Monitoring Board, said in a statement that it was “pleased” by the approach of both boards.

The full statement:
“The Monitoring Board welcomes the commitment of the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) and the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) to implement enhancements to provide greater transparency to the standard setting process and to increase their efforts to reach conclusions in these major projects.

The commitment of the IASB and FASB in the joint statement issued on 5 November is endorsed by the Trustees of their respective oversight bodies, the International Accounting Standards Committee Foundation and the Financial Accounting Foundation.

The Monitoring Board believes that efforts of the IASB and the FASB will result in a set of high-quality international accounting standards that are not only converged but that improve the information provided to investors.
The Monitoring Board is pleased by the responsive approach of the IASB and the FASB to address concerns regarding the potential for the IASB and the FASB to reach different conclusion on the major projects in the Memorandum of Understanding and the impact that would have on the potential for global accounting standards.”

The members of the Monitoring Board are:

Hans Hoogervorst (Chairman) Chairman Hoogervorst represents the IOSCO Technical Committee on the Monitoring Board and is the head of the Netherlands Authority for the Financial Market

The Honorable Takafumi Sato Commissioner of the JFSA

Guillermo Larraín Chairman of the IOSCO Emerging Markets Committee and the Superintendencia de Valores y Seguros of Chile

Mary Schapiro Chairman of the US SEC

Observers

Sylvie Matherat Representative of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision