FASB Parent - FAF - Seeks Trustees; IASB Parent - IFRSF - Seeks IFRS Advisory Council Members

On Friday, June 24, the Financial Accounting Foundation (which oversees the FASB and GASB) published a call for nominations to fill vacancies on the FAF board of Trustees. On the same day, the International Financial Reporting Standards Foundation (which oversees the IASB) announced a call for nominations to fill vacancies on the IFRS Advisory Council.

What Does It Take To Be An FAF Trustee?
"Ideal candidates" for FAF Trustee positions are described in the FAF's press release as follows:

• The ideal candidates will be highly regarded within their profession, possess an understanding of the U.S. and global financial and capital markets, and have a strong appreciation for the importance to the markets, the investment community, and the public at large of independent standard setting for financial accounting and reporting. Candidates will be committed to the mission of the FAF, FASB, and GASB, demonstrate a concern for the public interest, and have an appreciation for the varying interests and perspectives of investors and other users of financial information and the preparers and auditors of financial reports.





• In addition to the attributes described above, the FAF currently is seeking senior-level professionals with backgrounds and experience in one or more of the following areas:





• Using financial statements, including those of private companies or of state or municipal governments





• Leading smaller and/or private companies





• Leading not-for-profit organizations.

FASB Board Appointments, Funding, Among Duties of FAF Trustees
Primary duties of the FAF Trustees are described as follows:

• To monitor, on an ongoing basis, the activities of the FASB and the GASB and their due process practices, policies and procedures, including agenda setting, solicitation and consideration of public comments, post-implementation evaluation of the effectiveness and efficiency of their standards and standard-setting activities, and their performance within the context of their mission statements.
  



• To appoint the Chairs and members of the FASB, GASB, and their advisory boards.




• To approve the short and longer range strategic plans of the FAF, FASB and GASB, and monitor the progress in implementing such plans.




• To advocate publicly on behalf of the independent standard setting process.




• To conduct periodic reviews of the structure for establishing and improving financial accounting and reporting standards in such scope and at such times as the Trustees shall determine.




• To oversee the finances, arrange and advocate for appropriate resources and funding, and approve the budgets of the FAF, FASB, and GASB.

The deadline to submit nominations for FAF Trustees is July 29. Details about the nomination process can be found in the FAF's press release.

IFRS Advisory Council To Turnover In Full in 2012
On the international accounting standard-setting front, the IASCF's press release notes:

The terms of all existing members of the IFRS Advisory Council expire at the end of December 2011. This will conclude the third iteration of the IFRS Advisory Council, which was the first one where individuals served as representatives of organisations that have an interest in standard-setting.

To aid in transition, while the terms of all IFRS Advisory Council members will end this year, the IFRS Advisory Council chair and vice chairs have been reappointed for terms ranging from one to three years. Additionally, terms of new members of the council will be staggered.

As background, the reference above to the 'third iteration' of the IFRS Advisory Council, with its emphasis on members serving on the council who represent 'organizations that have an interest in standard-setting,' follows from the restructuring of the IFRS Foundation's former 'Standards Advisory Committee" or SAC in 2008, one among a number of changes undertaken by the IASB and the IFRS Foundation following the IASB's 2008 Constitutional Review.

Representation Sought From Regional Standard-Setters, SMEs, More
Although the core framework of the IFRS Advisory Council will remain, according to the IFRSF's press release, the IFRS Foundation is seeking to expand the council's membership in certain key areas, described below (emphasis added).

Based upon the input received from the Advisory Council and others, the Trustees have agreed to keep the current representative model for membership. Furthermore, while the Trustees recognise that the IFRS Advisory Council is quite large, the Advisory Council’s chairs and vice-chairs, who have been reappointed, and members generally, believe that the size is manageable and
necessary to have the necessary broad range of interested parties represented
around the table. The Trustees have supported this view.

In terms of the composition of the Advisory Council’s membership, the Trustees have also accepted the broadly held view that the general mixture of perspectives is
appropriate.

At the same time, the Trustees will be making some minor modifications:

•Inviting regional standard-setting bodies to join, instead of national standard-setters currently serving: The Trustees wish to encourage the development of regional bodies. A global National Standard-Setter group exists, and regional bodies exist or are in the process of being established in Africa, the Americas, Asia-Oceania, and Europe. The Trustees will ask the heads of these groups to serve on the Advisory Council, rather than individual national standard-setters themselves.

•Seek further participation from the academic community, other internationally recognised professional bodies with an interest in financial reporting not currently represented, and the SME community

•Add greater participation from developing markets (including Asia and the Middle East) and other economies committed to IFRS adoption

As noted in the IFRSF's advertisement for nominations to the IFRS Advisory Council, the deadline for nominations to the IFRS Advisory Council is September 19.

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