IFRS Foundation

The International Financial Reporting Standards Foundation, or IFRS Foundation, is a nonprofit accounting organisation. Its main objectives include the development and promotion of the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS Standards) through the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB), which it oversees.[1]

IFRS Foundation
PurposeDevelopment and promotion of accounting standards[1]
HeadquartersColumbus House 7 Westferry Circus, Canary Wharf, London, E14 4HD  UK
Executive Director
Lee White
Websitewww.ifrs.org
Formerly called
IASC Foundation
Part of a series on
Accounting
Major types
Key concepts
Selected accounts
Accounting standards
Financial statements
Bookkeeping
Auditing
People and organizations
Development

The IFRS Foundation states that its mission is to develop IFRS Standards that bring transparency, accountability and efficiency to financial markets around the world, and that their work serves the public interest by fostering trust, growth and long-term financial stability in the global economy.

The foundation was formerly named the International Accounting Standards Committee (IASC) until a renaming on 1 July 2010. It is governed by a board of 22 trustees[2] and the IFRS Foundation Monitoring Board.[3]

Activities

Standard-setting

The IFRS Foundation sets out IFRS and their interpretations, which include the following:

  • the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS);
  • the International Accounting Standards (IAS);
  • interpretations provided by the International Financial Reporting Interpretations Committee (IFRIC);
  • interpretations provided by the Standing Interpretations Committee (SIC); and
  • other pronouncements.

Of these, the IAS and the SIC interpretations are previously-developed standards and interpretations that were developed by the IASC and have been adopted by the IASB and the IFRIC respectively when they were formed.[4] The Standards are developed and published by the IASB, a 14-member standard-setting body of the IFRS Foundation, while the IFRIC interpretations are provided by the IFRIC.[1]

Via the IASB, the IFRS Foundation also sets out the IFRS for small and medium-sized entities (SMEs) to better meet the needs of SMEs and relieve the burden imposed on them by the full IFRS Standards.[5]

IFRS Taxonomy

The IFRS Foundation also develops and maintains the IFRS Taxonomy.[6] The IFRS Taxonomy consists of elements that can be used to tag disclosures in financial statements prepared using IFRS Standards. Tagging makes information computer-readable and, therefore, more accessible to investors and other users of electronic company financial reports. The eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) is used to represent and deliver IFRS Taxonomy content.

IASB Chairman Hans Hoogervorst noted that the IFRS Taxonomy is already used by a wide variety of market participants and regulators. For example, the US Security and Exchange Commission requires foreign private issuers in the United States to use the IFRS Taxonomy. Also, European companies will be required to use the IFRS Taxonomy starting from 1 January 2020, under a draft regulatory standard published by the European Securities and Markets Authority.[7]

Organisation and governance

The IFRS Foundation's executive director is Lee White, who was the inaugural Chief Executive Officer of Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand (CAANZ).[8] The IFRS Foundation is funded in part by country-specific funding regimes involving stakeholder groups, or levies and other contributions through regulatory authorities, and also by self-generated income.[9]

The foundation is governed by a board of 22 trustees,[2] including

  • Erkki Liikanen (Chair), previously a governor of the International Monetary Fund and a member of the Governing Council of the European Central Bank;[10]
  • Teresa Ko (Vice-Chair), a Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer's China Chairman and Senior Partner;
  • Larry Leva (Vice-Chair), previously the global vice chairman Quality, Risk and Regulatory for KPMG International.

The trustees' responsibilities[11] include appointing members to and establishing the operating procedures of the IASB, Interpretations Committee and Advisory Council, and approving the Foundation's budget. They are accountable to a monitoring board of public authorities, the IFRS Foundation Monitoring Board.

References
  1. IFRS Foundation, 2018. About the IFRS Foundation and the IASB. Retrieved on June 20, 2018.
  2. Deloitte Global Services Limited, 2012. IFRS Foundation. Retrieved on April 25, 2012.
  3. IFRS Foundation Monitoring Board. IFRS Foundation Monitoring Board. Retrieved on June 20, 2018.
  4. IFRS Foundation, 2012. Access the unaccompanied standards and their technical summaries. Retrieved on April 25, 2012.
  5. IFRS Foundation, 2012. Project history. Retrieved on April 26, 2012.
  6. IFRS Foundation, 2018. IFRS Taxonomy. Retrieved on June 20, 2018.
  7. ESMA. ESMA proposes new digital format for issuers. Retrieved on June 20, 2018.
  8. Lee White steps down from CAANZ. . Retrieved on June 20, 2018.
  9. IFRS Foundation, 2018.Financing. Retrieved on April 26, 2018.
  10. IFRS Foundation, 2019. Trustee Chairman. Retrieved on March 14, 2019.
  11. IFRS Foundation, 2018.Trustee responsibilities. Retrieved on June 20, 2018.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.