当番日誌

2007.7.11

ASBJとFASBによるグローバル・コンバージェンスに関する会合

米国管理会計士協会(IMA、本部New Jersey)の会報誌『Strategic Finance』の7月号の記事にJUSCPA顧問である西川郁生先生の名前を見つけました。西川先生は本年4月より企業会計基準委員会(ASBJ)の委員長に就任されています。記事は6月に米国財務会計基準審議会（FASB）の議長とスタッフが来日し、会計基準のグローバル・コンバージェンスについて議論をおこなった第3回目の会合に関するものです。8月4日のJUSCPA総会では西川先生からこれについてのお話しも聞けるでしょう。

“FASB and ASBJ Discuss Global Convergence” by Kathy Williams

Board and staff members of the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) recently met in Tokyo with representatives of the Accounting standards Board of Japan (ASBJ) to continue their discussion about global convergence of accounting standards. Led by FASB Chairman Robert Hertz and ASBJ Chairman Ikuo Nishikawa, the meeting was the third between the two groups on this topic.
Both Boards have been working with the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) on various convergence projects and reported on them at the meeting. According to the FASB, ASBJ representatives discussed the current status of their projects and provided analysis of differences among U.S.GAAP, IFRS (International Financial Reporting Standards), and Japanese GAAP. They also discussed projects on segment reporting, intangible assets, and special purpose entities.
FASB representatives reported on their current projects, which include employers’ accounting for postretirement benefits (including pensions), financial statement presentation, financial instruments at fair value, leases, and financial instruments: liability and equity, the Board said. The FASB also provided an update on its conceptual framework project, focusing on the re-deliberations of the Preliminary Views, Conceptual Framework for Financial Reporting: Objective of Financial Reporting and Qualitative Characteristics of Decision-Useful Financial Reporting Information.
Both groups of representatives also exchanged their views on the current status of their work on measurement in the conceptual framework, liabilities and equity, business combinations, and post retirement benefits. They said that these ongoing discussions “are useful in promoting mutual understanding that will contribute to subsequent deliberations at their respective Boards and to their respective convergence projects with the IASB.
Regarding convergence, the FASB says that all three organizations believe that “common global financial reporting across the major business and capital markets of the world is a critical components in providing credible, comparable, conceptually sound, and usable financial information.”
For more information about the groups and their projects, visit
www.fasb.org or www.asb.or.jp/index_e.php.