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CESR supports of the objective of providing investors additional information that reduces the complexity resulting from the ability of debt instruments to be accounted for using different measurement attributes.
CESR highlights that especially the European Commission has stated that the approach for available for sale debt securities should be changed.
CESR is of the view that the suggested disclosures regarding impairment on available for sale items could provide a short term solution to the request of the European Commission to urgently change the accounting requirements for available for sale debt instruments.
CESR is of the view that this information would be useful to the users of the financial statements. CESR would therefore recommend that IASB moves forward with the suggested disclosures on this particular issue as a matter of urgency and limit the scope of the exposure draft to impaired available for sale items.
Also the backdating of the effective date to 2008 would be nearly impossible for European issuers to comply with as the financial statements for 2008 will be published before this exposure draft is finalised, translated and endorsed in the EU. CESR would therefore recommend setting the effective date to 1 January 2009 with earlier application permitted.
Letter to IASB