IMA urges Commission to defer introduction of IFRS 8

15 March 2007

IMA asked the Commission to defer adopting the International Accounting Standards Board's IFRS 8. International Financial Reporting Standards have been the subject of much debate recently due to moves to converge international and US accounting standards. In introducing IFRS 8, which is based on the US's equivalent standard, the EU is converging requirements for the disclosure of segmental information with those of the US, at a time when there are still unresolved issues with the converged US/IFRS framework following the IASB's discussion paper on the conceptual framework last year.

Furthermore, one of the main aims of converging IFRS with US GAAP is to eliminate the need for the burdensome US GAAP/IFRS reconciliation that companies with a joint listing in both America and another country are required to prepare at great cost. However, as IFRS 8 only relates to disclosures in the notes, it does not impact on this.

“In adopting IFRS 8, the Commission would be rushing ahead with an unnecessary and imperfect standard”, Liz Murrall of the IMA commented. “ We urge the Commission to take on board our concerns and hold off introducing IFRS 8 until there is more of a consensus about the converged framework.'

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