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29 January 2012

FT: Accountants at odds with Brussels


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Accounting rulemakers are on a potential collision course with the European Commission over changes to the way companies report partially-owned activities and off-balance sheet relationships.


Last week, the IASB refused a request to delay the new rules, which determine when companies need to consolidate partially-owned entities and how they account for joint ventures, as well as including crisis-related enhancements to the disclosure of activities that stay off-balance sheet.

The standards, intended for listed companies in the EU and various other countries, are due to come into force in January 2013. However, a one-year delay had been requested by the EFRAG, a body that advises the European Commission on whether to adopt IASB rules.

The EFRAG said some companies felt there was not enough time to meet the deadline, citing additional opposition from financial services groups, including insurers.

The European Commission said it was too early to take a final position on whether or not to endorse the new accounting standards, known as IFRS 10, 11 and 12.

One senior accountant said there was a real risk that Brussels would say no, in the same way that it had dramatically declined to endorse a key package of reforms governing loans and other financial instruments in 2009.

A second snub would be another setback for already delayed attempts to create a global accounting language by persuading the US to drop its own rules and sign up to international norms.

Full article (FT subscription required)



© Financial Times


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