IASB wrong on IAS39 changes

A member of the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) has said that the standard setter was wrong to bow to political pressure from the European Commission and water down proposals on the fair value option in IAS39.

Speaking at PricewaterhouseCoopers' Meet the Experts conference in London today (Monday), board member James Leisenring said of the draft's publication: 'I don't think we behaved as a proper standard setter in issuing this.'
The revised exposure draft was released earlier this year in direct response to the criticisms levelled at financial instrument's standard IAS39, but this was not enough to stop the European Commission choosing to adopt a carved-out version of the standard.

'We have been suitably chastised in the comment letters sent to us over our actions, and I believe they were right to do so,' added Leinsenring.

Also at the conference Jurgen Tiedje, the new head of the EC's accounting and audit unit, said that if the IASB 'rolled up its sleeves, there is no reason technical solutions to the IAS39 issues cannot be found in the next three months.'