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FASB meets with Japanese ASB

NORWALK, Conn., Dec. 2, 2008 — Representatives of the Accounting Standards Board of Japan (ASBJ) and the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) gathered recently in Norwalk, Conn. Led by ASBJ Chairman Ikuo Nishikawa and FASB Chairman Robert H. Herz, the meeting was the sixth in a series of discussions between ASBJ and FASB designed to enhance dialogue between the two boards in their shared pursuit of global convergence of accounting standards.

The development of a common set of high-quality accounting standards for both domestic and international use has been a major initiative of the ASBJ and FASB. Working toward convergence with the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB), the organizations believe that common financial reporting across the major business and capital markets of the world is a critical component in providing credible, comparable, conceptually sound, and usable financial information.

As part of the meeting, representatives of the boards discussed their respective strategies towards a single set of global standards. They also discussed standard-setters' responses to the recent international financial crisis. They reaffirmed that accounting standards, play a critical role in the global economic infrastructure by promoting confidence and transparency of capital markets.

In addition, representatives of both boards exchanged their views on the current status of their work on the following projects:

• Conceptual framework
• Consolidation, including special purpose entities (SPEs), and derecognition
  Liabilities and equity
• Financial instruments
• Financial statement presentation

Representatives of both boards agreed that their ongoing discussions are useful in promoting mutual understanding that will contribute to subsequent deliberations at their respective boards and to the future development of high quality accounting standards on the significant items to be improved in the medium and long term with the IASB. They agreed that both boards would continue to exchange views on longer-term issues and current concerns.

"It was useful to discuss with the FASB a broad range of issues including responses to the recent financial crisis from an accounting point of view, especially when the importance of accounting standards in the capital markets is globally reemphasized," said ASBJ Chairman Ikuo Nishikawa. "The ASBJ will continue to work closely with the FASB, the IASB, and other major standard-setters towards the development of a single set of high-quality global accounting standards, which includes responding to the financial crisis in order to enhance confidence in accounting information."

"This meeting with our colleagues from the ASBJ was particularly timely and useful in light of the global financial crisis and reporting issues arising from the crisis," added Herz. "Sharing perspectives on those issues and on potential ways to improve reporting to investors and capital markets, both during the crisis and beyond, is critical to advancing our shared goal of high-quality reporting across the major international capital markets."

The next joint meeting is planned for March 2009 in Tokyo, Japan.