Issued July 19, 2013 (No. 33)

Contents

1. Overview of ASBJ Meetings (262nd Meeting – 265th Meeting)
2. ASBJ’s Comment Submission to the IASB and the FASB (April 1, 2013 –May 31, 2013)
3. ASBJ Chairman Ikuo Nishikawa Attended the 7th IFRS Regional PolicyForum
4. Former ASBJ Vice Chairman Atsu Kato Attended the Meeting of theInternational Forum of Accounting Standard Setters (IFASS)
5. Appointment of Members of the Standards Advisory Council
6. Representatives of the IASB and ASBJ meet in Tokyo, confirm futurerelationship
7. FASF Seminar on the “Guide to the Preparation of Quarterly Reports” (forthe First Quarter ending June 30, 2013)

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1. Overview of ASBJ Meetings (262nd Meeting – 265th Meeting)(1) 262nd Meeting (held on April 11, 2013)
Administrative matters

The 262nd ASBJ meeting was held in a closed session because its agenda contained onlyadministrative matters.
Following the appointment of the ASBJ Board Members in April 2013, full-time Board Members
Takehiro Arai and Atsushi Kogasaka were appointed as Vice Chairmen.

(2) 263th Meeting (held on April 25, 2013)
a. Report on the Accounting Standards Advisory Forum (ASAF), and establishment of a TechnicalCommittee for the ASAF
b. Progress of the Technical Committee for Financial Instruments
c. Responses to agenda item proposals from the Standards Advisory Council
d. Discussion on Business Combinations (Step 2)
e. Progress of the Practical Solutions Standing Committeea.

An outline of the first meeting of the Accounting Standards Advisory Forum (ASAF), which took
place in London in April 2013 and was attended by ASBJ Chairman Ikuo Nishikawa, waspresented.

b.

The Board discussed its draft comments on the FASB’s Exposure Drafts Recognition andMeasurement of Financial Assets and Financial Liabilities and Credit Losses.

c.

The Board confirmed taking up accounting and presentation issues proposed by the Standards
Advisory Council in its future meetings.

d.

Staff outlined comments received on the exposure draft of Business Combinations (Step 2).

e.

The Board was presented with the progress by the Practical Solutions Standing Committee, on‘scheme granting a company’s own shares to its employees through a trust.’ The Board thendiscussed how it would respond to the issues presented.

(3) 264th Meeting (held on May 16, 2013)
a. Overview of the regular meeting with the IASB
b. Discussion on draft comments to FASB Exposure Draft Recognition and Measurement ofpg. 2
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Financial Assets and Financial Liabilities
c. Discussion on Accounting Standard for Intangible Assetsa.

An outline of the discussions at the regular meeting with the IASB, which took place in Tokyo
during May 2013, was presented.

The topics discussed at the meeting included the ConceptualFramework, insurance contracts, financial instruments (impairment), research on goodwill
impairment and amortization.
b.

The Board undertook a final discussion of its comment on the FASB’s exposure draft. .

c.

The Board has been discussing the issues relating to the ‘identification of intangible assets
acquired in business combinations’ and ‘separately acquired in-progress research and development
projects.’

However, given that Japanese constituents’ views on the treatments are divergent, theBoard is considering conducting its deliberations on those issues in the future, rather than setting adefinite direction at this point.
In addition, with an aim to facilitate future discussions the Board agreed to publish a progress
report which summarizes those views on intangible assets to date.

(4) 265th Meeting (held on May 29, 2013)a. Discussion on draft comments to FASB Exposure Draft Credit Losses
b. Progress of the Practical Solutions Standing Committeec. Discussion on Business Combinations (Step 2)
d. Discussion on Accounting Standard for Intangible Assetsa.

The Board discussed its draft comments on the FASB’s Exposure Draft Financial
Instruments—Credit Losses (Subtopic 825-15), issued on December 20, 2012 (comment period
ended on May 31, 2013).

b.

The Board was presented with the progress to date by the Practical Solutions Standing Committee,
on a ‘scheme granting a company’s own shares to its employees through a trust.’ The Board thendiscussed a forthcoming exposure draft on PITF Practical Solution on Transactions of Delivering
the Company’s Own Stock to Employees through Trusts.

c.

The Board discussed its responses to comments received on its Exposure Draft AccountingStandards for Business Combinations.

The issues discussed included (1) the treatment ofnegative capital surplus resulting from changes in a parent’s interests in its subsidiary where aparent retains the control over its subsidiary, and (2) the treatment of income taxes resulting froma partial sale of the parent’s shares in its subsidiary, and (3) the treatment of the equity method for
non-consolidated subsidiaries and associates.
d.

The Board was presented with a draft paper “Progress Report on Deliberation on Intangible Assets
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Project.”

After reviewing the draft in a future meeting, the Board will be asked for approval torelease the paper on the ASBJ website. The target for publication of the report is the end of June2013.

2. ASBJ’s Comment Submission to the IASB and the FASB (April 1, 2013 – May31, 2013)(1)

ASBJ submitted its Comments on the Exposure Draft "Novation of Derivatives andContinuation of Hedge Accounting (Proposed amendments to IAS39 and IFRS9) (April 5,2013)(2)

ASBJ submitted its Comments on the Proposed Accounting Standards Update Financial
Instruments—Overall (Subtopic 825-10) Recognition and Measurement of Financial Assets andFinancial Liabilities (May 20, 2013)

3. ASBJ Chairman Ikuo Nishikawa Attended the 7th IFRS Regional Policy ForumThe 7th IFRS Regional Policy Forum was held on 5 and 6 June 2013, in Hong Kong.
forum was themed on “A Journey to Better Financial Reporting.”

This year, theRepresentatives from accounting

standards setters, regulators, auditors and others exchanged their views on the issues.
The forum was hosted by the Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants (HKICPA), andattended by approximately 190 participants from 16 jurisdictions.

Attendees included IASB

Chairman Hans Hoogervorst, IASB Members Zhang Wei-Guo and Stephen Cooper, together withIFRS Foundation Asia-Oceania Office Director Mitsuhiro Takemura.

From Japan, attendees

included Toshitake Inoue, Director for International Accounting, the Financial Services Agency(FSA), representing the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO), along withASBJ Chairman Ikuo Nishikawa, Vice Chairman Atsushi Kogasaka, Board Member Tomokazu
Sekiguchi, and Director Takao Kamiya.
The meeting began with welcoming remarks by Susanna Chiu, President of HKICPA, and Clement
Chan, Chairman of HKICPA Financial Reporting Standards Committee (FRSC), followed bykeynote addresses by Kevin Stevenson, Chairman of the Asian-Oceanian Standard-Setters Group(AOSSG) and Professor K C Chan, Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Hong Kong
SAR Government.
IASB Chairman Hans Hoogervorst, IASB Member Zhang Wei-Guo and IFRS Foundation Director
Mitsuhiro Takemura then presented IFRS topical issues and future challenges.
Several panel discussions were then conducted, followed by questions and answers and the exchange
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of views with forum participants.
・Those panel discussions included:“Transition to IFRS – Convergence approach” (Moderator: PwC,Panelists: MalaysianAccounting Standards Board (MASB), IASB, Ministry of Finance of China)
・“Role of the region in influencing the standard setting debate” (Moderator: HKICPA FRSC,
Panelists: Korea Accounting Standards Board (KASB), the International Forum of AccountingStandard Setters (IFASS))

・“Improving the usefulness and clarity of financial disclosures” (Moderator: IASB,Panelists:

E&Y, Australian Accounting Standards Board (AASB), KPMG, Founder of Webb-site.com)
・“The role of the audit committee in enhancing financial reporting” (Moderator: KPMG,Panelists: CapitalLLimited, New Zealand External Reporting Board, Hong Kong Institute ofDirectors)

・“Valuation for financial reporting” (Moderator: Indonesian Institute of Accountants,Panelists:

International Valuation Standards Council (IVSC), IASB, PwC, Sincere Group)・“Challenges in strengthening the financial reporting regulatory framework for listed entities”(Moderator: IASB,Panelists: Financial Reporting Council of Hong Kong, FSA of Japan,

Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing)・“Continuing the journey to Better Financial Reporting” (Moderator: HKICPA FRSC,Panelists: E&Y, Australian Accounting Standards Board (AASB))

The meeting closed with a speech by Clement Chan, Chairman of HKICPA FRSC.

4. Former ASBJ Vice Chairman Atsu Kato Attended the Meeting of theInternational Forum of Accounting Standard Setters (IFASS)The International Forum of Accounting Standard Setters (IFASS) Meeting was held on 17 and 18April 2013, in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

The meeting was attended by 56 representatives from 30 national

accounting standard setters, including from the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, France,Germany, Australia, China, Korea, India, and Singapore, as well as international organizations suchas the IASB and the European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG).

The attendees fromthe ASBJ were former Vice Chairman Atsu Kato and Director Takao Kamiya.
The purpose of the forum was to discuss research projects undertaken by national standard settersand to provide input into, and support for the IASB’s standards development.

The meeting is held

twice a year (in Spring and in Fall).
The following topics were discussed at the meeting:pg. 5
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AgendaSpeaker

Wednesday, April 17, 20131Disclosure Framework

EFRAG
FASB
UKIASB

2
3Relationships between the IASB and National Standard

IFRS Foundation

Setters/Regional Bodies

IASB

Update from the International Public Sector Accounting

IPSASB

Standards Board

4

Topical issues in member countries－Investment tax credits

South Africa

Discount rate

Germany

Accounting issues where controlling and controlled entities

India

prepare financial statements under different framework
Emissions Trading Schemes

EFRAG

Thursday, April 18, 2013
5IASB Work PlanIASB

6IFASS member projects－(1) Surveys regarding goodwill amortization and impairment

Italy
ASBJ7

(2) Measurement Framework

CanadaReports from regional groups

AOSSG
EFRAG
GLASS
PAFA

8IFRS for SMEs

Republic of SierraLeone

9

Topical issues in member countries－(1) The role of the Business Model

EFRAG(2) Projects relating to Conceptual Framework

EFRAG(3) Research on the use of OCI

ASBJ

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5. Appointment of Members of the Standards Advisory Council
The Financial Accounting Standards Foundation (FASF) held the Board of Directors Meeting onMay 30, 2013.

The appointment of two members to the Standards Advisory Council (SAC) wasapproved, pursuant to Article 64, paragraph 1 of the FASF Constitution.
zMr. Hiroji Uchida (General Manager, Research Department, Japanese Bankers Association)z

Mr. Takumi Kitamura (Co-Deputy CFO, Nomura Holdings, Inc.)(Appointment effective May 30, 2013)
Dated May 29, 2013, Ms. Junko Nakagawa (Senior Managing Directors, Nomura Holdings, Inc.)
stepped down as an SAC member.

6. Representatives of the IASB and ASBJ meet in Tokyo, confirm future
relationship
Representatives of the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) and the AccountingStandards Board of Japan (ASBJ) met on 9 and 10 May 2013 in Tokyo.
This was the seventeenth in a series of meetings between the boards since March 2005.

During themeeting, the boards discussed projects on the IASB’s agenda, including financial instruments,
insurance contracts and the work to revise the IASB’s Conceptual Framework for FinancialReporting.
In response to the recommendation set out in the Trustees’ Strategy Review 2011, the IFRSFoundation established the Accounting Standards Advisory Forum (ASAF), a technical advisory
body to the IASB consisting of national accounting standard-setters and regional bodies associatedwith accounting standard-setting, on which the ASBJ is represented.

The ASAF has been designed

to replace multiple, bilateral agreements between the IASB and individual standard-setters with asingle ASAF agreement.
The first meeting of the ASAF took place in April 2013.

Accordingly, the meeting this time will be

the last in the series of twice-yearly bilateral meetings between the IASB and the ASBJ.

At thesame time, the boards will continue to co-operate closely through regular communication between
the respective organisations, the ASBJ providing secondees to the IASB and contributions from the
ASBJ to the IASB’s research projects.

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7. FASF Seminar on the “Guide to the Preparation of Quarterly Reports” (for theFirst Quarter ending June 30, 2013)
The FASF seminars on the “Guide to the Preparation of Quarterly Reports” (for the first quarterending June 30, 2013) were held, starting June 4, 2013.

Eleven sessions were held in nine cities asfollows: Tokyo (3 sessions), Osaka, Nagoya, Takamatsu, Hiroshima, Fukuoka, Kanazawa, Sendai,and Sapporo.
The seminar covered a variety of topics such as changes made from the first quarterly report for theprevious fiscal year, illustrative examples on early application of ASBJ Statement No. 26 AccountingStandard for Retirement Benefits and its Implementation Guidance, as well as illustrative examples
specific to second quarterly reports.

In addition to the educational content provided by the FASF,

the ASBJ also provided an update on its recent activities.

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“ASBJ Newsletter” (No. 33)
Issued on July 19, 2013
The views expressed in ASBJ Newsletter are not necessarily those of the ASBJ or the FASF. TheAuthors and Publishers accept no responsibility for any loss or damage resulting from reliance on theviews expressed herein.
© Copyright, ASBJ/FASF All Rights Reserved
Website: https://www.asb.or.jp/asb/index_e.jsp
E-mail: planning@asb.or.jp
Accounting Standards Board of Japan / Financial Accounting Standards Foundation
Fukoku Seimei Building 20F, 2-2, Uchisaiwaicho 2-chome, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Japan (Zip Code:100-0011)

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