April 30, 2010

ASBJ and IASB meet to discuss convergence withand intended adoption of IFRSs in Japan
The Accounting Standards Board of Japan (ASBJ) and the International Accounting Standards
Board (IASB) have held their eleventh meeting to review preparations for the convergencewith and intended adoption of IFRSs in Japan. Led by Ikuo Nishikawa, Chairman of theASBJ, and Sir David Tweedie, Chairman of the IASB, the meeting took place on 27 and 28
April 2010 in Tokyo.
The ASBJ and the IASB have accelerated their work towards convergence of International
Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs) currently in effect and Japanese generally accepted
accounting principles (GAAP) by June 2011, as described by their Memorandum ofUnderstanding (known as the Tokyo Agreement) and consistent with requests by the Group of
20 Leaders (G20) to complete convergence of global accounting standards by this date.
In December 2009, the Japanese Financial Services Agency (FSA) revised the ordinances toallow Japanese listed companies meeting certain criteria to prepare their consolidated
financial statements in accordance with IFRSs from fiscal years ended 31 March 2010.

Inthe light of that decision, the ASBJ is working with its constituents to address interpretativeand practical issues relating to the voluntary adoption of IFRSs in Japan.

At the meetingwith the IASB, representatives of the ASBJ proposed its solutions on those issues andrepresentatives of the boards exchanged views.

With a view to promoting the voluntary

adoption of IFRSs in Japan, the boards reaffirmed that the IASB will continue to support theASBJ’s efforts.

A summary of the discussions is included in the appendix.
Representatives of both boards believe that the ASBJ’s continuing participation in the IASB’sstandard-setting process, including the above discussions, contributes to the development of asingle set of high quality global accounting standards.

They also believe the IASB’s and theASBJ’s ongoing work towards convergence of Japanese GAAP and IFRSs is essential for the
successful adoption of IFRSs in Japan.
Commenting on the meeting, Ikuo Nishikawa, Chairman of the ASBJ said:
In this meeting, ASBJ’s comments were well received as they may contribute to theprogress of the MoU projects between the IASB and the FASB.
In addition, about local practical issues upon the implementation of IFRSs, we aredelighted that further communications between the staff were confirmed
Sir David Tweedie, Chairman of the IASB said:
This was a highly successful meeting. The staff of the ASBJ produced some
excellent papers that allowed significant progress to be made across projects coveredby the ‘Tokyo Agreement’.
We are on track to complete our convergence work by the June 2011 target.
The next meeting of the boards is scheduled for September 2010 in London, U.K.

END

Appendix:
As June 2011—the target date of the convergence project with the US Financial AccountingStandards Board (FASB)—approaches, in November 2009 the IASB and the FASB reaffirmed
their commitment to completion of the projects addressed in their Memorandum ofUnderstanding (MoU) and issued a quarterly progress report in April 2010.

At the sametime, the ASBJ updated its project plan up to 2011 taking into account the progress of theIASB’s projects, in order to smoothly carry out its convergence projects based on the Tokyo
Agreement with the IASB in August 2007.

At this meeting, representatives of the boards

shared the update of the recent developments of their respective convergence projects and had
in-depth discussions about controversial issues.
In addition, representatives of the boards also exchanged views on the current projects of theASBJ and the IASB in which Japanese constituents have a great interest.
Financial instruments (impairment and hedge accounting)Revenue recognition

Financial statement presentation.

In the session on financial instruments, representatives of the boards discussed the new modelof impairment (the expected loss model) proposed by the IASB in its exposure draft inNovember 2009, focusing on the analysis and comments provided by the ASBJ and concerns
raised by Japanese constituents about the feasibility of the model.

They also discussed theimprovement of hedge accounting which the IASB and the FASB are jointly addressing,based on the preliminary comments by the ASBJ.
In the session on revenue recognition, representatives of the boards discussed the following
issues on the basis of an analysis by the ASBJ: (a) identification of performance obligations

and recognition and measurement of revenue under the contracts in which two or more goods
or services are transferred at different times (multiple-element arrangements and constructioncontracts); (b) the approach to revenue recognition based on changes in assets and liabilitiesand (c) treatment of product warranties.
In the session on financial statement presentation, representatives of the boards discussed theissues about the direct method for the statement of cash flows raised by the ASBJ, and thepresentation of the financing session which includes the equity category as well as the debt
category.
In addition, they also discussed accounting treatments for emission trading schemes, a matterof increasing interest for Japanese constituents.

Representatives of the boards exchanged

their views on the accounting for cap and trade schemes currently deliberated by the IASB, on
the basis of a paper analysing several alternative accounting models identified by the ASBJ.
On 28 April 2010, the ASBJ held an open seminar, in which Sir David Tweedie gave anupdate on IFRSs and Mr Nishikawa made a presentation about recent activities regarding theconvergence with and the voluntary adoption of IFRSs in Japan. About a thousand people
attended the seminar, demonstrating the high level of interest in IFRSs in Japan.

Notes to Editors:
About the ASBJ
The Accounting Standards Board of Japan (ASBJ) was established in July 2001 as a private
sector organisation. Accounting standards developed by the ASBJ are to be authorised by
the Financial Services Agency as part of generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP).
The ASBJ develops accounting standards and implementation guidance that appropriatelyreflect the environment in which business enterprises operate. The ASBJ also communicateswith corresponding organisations abroad and contributes to the development of global
accounting standards. For more information about the ASBJ, visit the Website athttps://www.asb.or.jp/asb/top_e.do.
About the IASBThe IASB was established in 2001 and is the standard-setting body of the International
Accounting Standards Committee (IASC) Foundation, an independent, private sector,
not-for-profit organisation. The IASB is committed to developing, in the public interest, asingle set of high quality global accounting standards that provide high quality transparent andcomparable information in general purpose financial statements. In pursuit of this objective
the IASB conducts extensive public consultations and seeks the co-operation of internationaland national bodies around the world. The IASB currently has 15 full-time members drawn
from ten countries and a variety of professional backgrounds. By 2012 the Board will be
expanded to 16 members. Board members are appointed by and accountable to the Trusteesof the IASC Foundation, who are required to select the best available combination oftechnical expertise and diversity of international business and market experience. In theirwork the Trustees are accountable to a Monitoring Board of public authorities.