Global Accounting Rules on Leasing and Insurance Delayed by FASB and IASB

The June target for reaching global accounting standards on leasing, revenue recognition, financial instruments, and insurance has been pushed back by US and international accounting groups.

FASB Chairman, Leslie Seidman, and IASB Chairman, David Tweedie, said that the The Financial Accounting Standards Board or FASB and the International Accounting Standards Board or IASB are still responding to issues regarding the proposal making them need a delay of “a few more months.” This statement was released on a podcast summarizing the meeting of the two groups.

Seidman added that June “was always intended to be a target, not a deadline, and we always said that achieving the target was subject to the nature and extent of the feedback that we got on each of the exposure documents”. She also added that, “at this point on each of the exposure documents we have received significant and very constructive feedback and we are in the process of working through those issues. The quality of the standards remains of the utmost importance.”

FASB, based in Norwalk, Connecticut, and IASB, based in London, are working together to reconcile each group’s global accounting standards to help investors and regulators to better compare the financial statements of companies all over the world.

PricewaterhouseCooper released the results of its survey that showed that more than half of its respondents expect at least a moderate impact from the leasing, revenue recognition, and financial instrument projects. The recent standard-setting pace is thought to be too fast by the 43 per cent of the 1,400 professional-respondents.

“In the next few days”, the FASB and the IASB expect to publish its convergence report that will give plans for the completion work on the projects.

News Source: Bloomberg »