The Financial Accounting Standards Board has named the members who will serve on a Transition Resource Group to help with implementation of its upcoming credit losses standard.
The Transition Resource Group will function in some ways like the joint TRG that FASB and the International Accounting Standards Board set up for their revenue recognition standard. However, since FASB and the IASB diverged in their approaches to expected credit losses, the group will only be reporting to FASB. Security and Exchange Commission chief accountant James Schnurr had urged FASB to set up the transition group.
The credit loss standard is part of the larger financial instruments project that FASB and the IASB have been working on for over 10 years. The IASB released its version for International Financial Reporting Standards in July 2014, known as IFRS 9 (see
The Transition Resource Group is tasked with soliciting, analyzing, and discussing implementation issues that could arise when organizations implement the upcoming credit losses standard. The group will then share their views with FASB, which will help the board determine what, if any, action is appropriate to address those issues. The TRG also will provide stakeholders with a forum to learn about the new standard from others involved with implementation.
FASB recently incorporated the feedback it received from the TRG for the revenue recognition standard in deciding in tandem with the IASB to incorporate more guidance on principal versus agent considerations and delay the effective date of the standard for a year (see
“Due to the success of the initial Transition Resource Group for the revenue recognition standard, we decided to establish a similar group to help the board proactively address stakeholder concerns related to the implementation and operationality of the upcoming credit losses standard,” said FASB Chair Russell G. Golden in a statement. “As the TRG discusses these issues, the board can decide if it should take additional steps to provide educational materials on specific areas of concern, or if it needs to clarify the standard accordingly.”
TRG members include financial statement preparers (including community banks and credit unions), auditors, users, and financial services regulators. Below is the complete list of members:
• Diane Bellas, director of corporate accounting research at Allstate Insurance Company
• Fredrick Cannon, director of research and chief equity strategist and executive vice president at Keefe, Bruyette, & Woods, Inc.
• Chip Currie, partner in the National Professional Services Group at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
• Graham Dyer, senior manager of the Accounting Principles Consulting Group at Grant Thornton LLP
• Sydney Garmong, partner in the National Office at Crowe Horwath LLP
• Susan Hannigan, senior vice president and CFO at Jeanne D'Arc Credit Union
• Jon Howard, partner in Accounting Services at Deloitte LLP
• Xihao Hu, executive vice president of finance and head of Accounting, Tax, Planning & Finance Shared Services at TD Bank
• Helen Killoch, vice president and chief accountant at BMO Financial Group
• Mario Mastrantoni, director of accounting policy at Wells Fargo & Company
• Mark Northan, partner in the Department of Professional Practice at KPMG LLP
• Dan Palomaki, managing director of accounting policy at Citigroup
• Kevin Stoklosa, senior vice president and senior director of accounting policy at First Niagara Bank
• Robert Wadley, partner in Assurance Services—National Accounting at Ernst & Young LLP
• Doug Wright, CFO at Mission Federal Credit Union
• Timothy Zimmerman, president and CEO at Standard Bank, PaSB.
Observers:
• Wes Bricker, Deputy Chief Accountant at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
• Steven Brown, senior vice president of wholesale credit risk management at U.S. Bank and member of the Private Company Council
• Barbara Vanich, Associate Chief Auditor at the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board
• Representatives from the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, National Credit Union Administration, and the Federal Housing Finance Agency on a rotating basis.
The TRG will hold its first meeting with FASB on April 1, 2016, to discuss whether the measurement guidance of the expected credit loss portion of the upcoming standard clearly communicates the board’s decisions. Subsequent meetings will be announced shortly thereafter. All public meetings will be chaired by FASB member Lawrence W. Smith and audio webcast live on the FASB website.
FASB said stakeholders will be able to submit potential implementation issues for discussion by the TRG once the final standard is issued. Instructions for submission will be included on the TRG website. FASB will evaluate each submission and prioritize the issues for discussion at public TRG meetings.
