The G20 group of nations met in Washington over the weekend and asked the two primary financial accounting boards to take several actions by March 31, 2010—and not a day later, to help ease the burden of the financial crisis, according to FinancialWeek.
Despite the G20 group of nations’ request to expedite changes, the accounting standard-setters said they will continue their projects as planned. The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) and the Financial Accounting Services Board (FASB) are in no rush to fast-track initiatives to please the G20.
Sir David Tweedie, chairman of the IASB and his U.S. counterpart, Robert Herz, chairman of FASB, each addressed the G20’s requests to expedite changes. Tweedie noted that both the IASB and FASB will amend standards on consolidation of assets later next year, according to FW.
“These are very complicated projects,” said Tweedie. “If you rush them you make mistakes.”
Patricia Donoghue, a FASB project manager working on amending the standards for off-balance-sheet vehicles, told another panel at the conference that FASB is working as fast as it can on the assignment. “We think it’s possible to make progress by then,” said Donoghue. “What we don’t know is what interference we’ll have from other parties,” that could delay issuance of the amendments. Donoghue did not identify “other parties.”
Both the IASB and FASB defended the recent work of their boards on valuing assets in fractured markets. “I’m not sure there’s more to be done on illiquid markets,” Herz said. Herz eluded that what corporate managers and the G20 countries really want is a cookbook on fair-value accounting.
“We’re not going to give them a cookbook,” Herz told FW.