The Trustees of the IFRS Foundation, the oversight body of the International Accounting Standards Board, announced Wednesday the membership of the Accounting Standards Advisory Forum for the next three years.
The ASAF was created three years ago after the convergence process between FASB and the IASB on harmonizing U.S. GAAP with International Financial Reporting Standards seemed to have run out of steam. Persistent complaints from countries that had agreed to adopt IFRS, unlike the U.S., convinced the IASB and its parent group, the IFRS Foundation, to allow standard-setters from other countries and continents to become more actively involved in the development of IFRS.
The U.S. Financial Accounting Standards Board will continue to be a member of the ASAF, but there are changes among some of the other standard-setters, particularly those representing Europe. Standard-setting organizations from France and Italy, the Autorité des normes comptables and the Organismo Italiano di Contabilità, will be replacing the Spanish Accounting and Auditing Institute and the United Kingdom’s Financial Reporting Council. The New Zealand Accounting Standards Board will also be working with the Australian Accounting Standards Board, which was already a member.
The ASAF meets four times a year. All meetings are held in public and are available through live webcasts. The next meeting of the ASAF will take place July 1617, 2015.
“We appreciate the support of all those who have helped make the ASAF a success,” said IFRS Foundation’s Trustees chairman Michel Prada in a statement. “It has proven a valuable platform for effective technical discussion between the IASB and members of the global accounting standard-setting community, who are represented either directly or through their membership of regional bodies. Going forward, we hope the ASAF continues to evolve and that discussions include both matters on the IASB’s agenda and jurisdictional topics.”
The ASAF comprises 12 non-voting members, represented by individuals, and is chaired by the IASB. The composition of ASAF members with immediate effect is:
Region | Members |
Africa | Financial Reporting Council of South Africa |
Asia-Oceania (including one at large) | Asian-Oceanian Standard-Setters Group (AOSSG) Accounting Standards Board of Japan Australian Accounting Standards Board working with the New Zealand China Accounting Standards Committee |
Europe (including one at large) | European Financial Reporting Group (EFRAG) Accounting Standards Committee of Germany Autorité des normes comptables Organismo Italiano di Contabilità |
The Americas | Group of Latin American Standard Setters (GLASS) Canadian Accounting Standards Board Financial Accounting Standards Board |
