The next Accounting Regulatory Committee will be considering the adoption of IAS 39 either in its full form (with exclusion from the entire standard for banks if need be) or alternatively a partial adoption. We write to indicate a strong level of support from the UK corporate sector for full adoption.
The Association of Corporate Treasurers would like to see the unequivocal adoption of IAS 39 in full within the EU, notwithstanding the standard’s admitted flaws and the real reservations many of us hold and which are to be addressed by a new IASB working group.
We greatly deprecate the idea that the EU Commission seems to intend effectively to take upon itself the role of standard setting, and what is more, to aggravate matters by introducing changes without allowing for proper review and consultation processes. The independence of standard setters and proper consultation process are critical to wide acceptance of standards.
The Association of Corporate Treasurers would deeply regret any move towards a “European GAAP”. Such a departure from International Standards would destroy a substantial portion of the benefits to companies from adoption of the new package of Standards, namely their acceptability to US regulatory authorities, and their world wide applicability.