10 May 2013
Representatives of the IASB and ASBJ meet in Tokyo, confirm future relationship
Representatives of the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) and theAccounting Standards 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 the meeting, 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 Financial Reporting.
In response to the recommendation set out in the Trustees’ Strategy Review 2011, theIFRS Foundation established the Accounting Standards Advisory Forum (ASAF), atechnical advisory body to the IASB consisting of national accounting standard-settersand regional bodies associated with accounting standard-setting, on which the ASBJ isrepresented. The ASAF has been designed to replace multiple, bilateral agreements
between the IASB and individual standard-setters with a single ASAF agreement.
The first meeting of the ASAF took place in April 2013. Accordingly, the present
meeting will be the last in the series of twice-yearly bilateral meetings between theIASB and the ASBJ. At the same 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.
Hans Hoogervorst, Chairman of the IASB, said
I look forward to continuing our strong relationship with the ASBJ. I havealways attached great value to the inputs of our Japanese counterparts and I
expect to continue to visit Japan and the ASBJ on a regular basis. We willcontinue to co-operate closely, including in terms of research and the exchangeof staff.
Ikuo Nishikawa, Chairman of the ASBJ, statedAs with previous meetings, we had a very fruitful discussion at this periodicmeeting. This periodic bilateral meeting may come to an end, but the ASBJ
will continue its contribution to the development of high quality global
accounting standards, particularly through the ASAF. In addition, the ASBJ
will continue to communicate closely with the IASB through various means.

About the International Accounting Standards Board
The IASB was established in 2001 and is the standard-setting body of the IFRSFoundation, an independent, private sector, not-for-profit organisation. The IASB iscommitted to developing, in the public interest, a single set of high quality, global
accounting Standards that provide high quality, transparent and comparable informationin general purpose financial statements. In pursuit of this objective the IASB conducts
extensive public consultations and seeks the co-operation of international and national
bodies around the world. The IASB has 16 full-time members drawn from 11 countries
and a variety of professional backgrounds. Board members are appointed by, andaccountable to, the Trustees of the IFRS Foundation, who are required to select the best
available combination of technical expertise and diversity of international business andmarket experience. In their work the Trustees are accountable to a Monitoring Board ofpublic authorities.
About the Accounting Standards Board of Japan
The Accounting Standards Board of Japan (ASBJ) was established in July 2001 as aprivate-sector organisation. Accounting standards developed by the ASBJ are to beauthorised by the Financial Services Agency as part of generally accepted accountingprinciples. The ASBJ develops accounting standards and implementation guidance
that appropriately reflect the environment in which business enterprises operate. TheASBJ also communicates with corresponding organisations abroad and contributes tothe development of global accounting standards. For more information about theASBJ, visit its website at https://www.asb.or.jp/asb/top_e.do.