SINGAPORE HOSTING THE 6^TH INTERNATIONAL ACCOUNTING STANDARDS BOARD -REGIONAL STANDARD-SETTERS MEETING

            The Accounting Standards Council (ASC), Singapore’s national accounting standards setting body, will be hosting the 6^th International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) – Regional Standard-Setters Meeting (IASB-RSSM) on 16 July 2008 at Mandarin Oriental Singapore. The meeting will be attended by the accounting standards setting authorities from the ASEAN and the Asia-Pacific region[1]. Sir David Tweedie, the Chairman of the IASB and Mr Warren McGregor, a member of the IASB will also be attending this event.

2        The IASB-RSSM is an annual platform for accounting standard setting authorities from the ASEAN as well as Asia-Pacific countries to discuss and share perspectives on major issues arising from the implementation of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs). This is the second time Singapore is hosting the IASB-RSSM, the first being the inaugural meeting back in April 2003.

3        “With the convergence of national standards towards the IFRS, the IASB-RSSM provides an excellent opportunity for the accounting standard setters in this region to exchange views on their experience and the issues faced in implementing IFRSs. Given that countries in the Asia Pacific region do share some similarities in terms of culture, business environment and practices, the IASB-RSSM enables the regional standard-setters to share learning points and to provide feedback to the IASB as a collective group,” said Mr Tham Sai Choy, who is an ASC member and regional head of audit for KPMG Asia Pacific.  

4        In conjunction with the IASB-RSSM, the ASC is also hosting a one-day public seminar, entitled, “IFRS: A Global and Regional Perspective” on 17 July 2008 at Mandarin Oriental. Senior Minister of State for Finance and Transport, Mrs Lim Hwee Hua would be delivering the keynote address at the seminar. At the seminar, Sir David Tweedie and Mr Warren McGregor, will be sharing with the participants the latest updates on the IASB’s work programme and major technical projects. A diverse panel of respected speakers and professionals, representing the accounting profession, business sector, academia, will also be speaking on two highly topical subjects in today’s context – risk reporting and the lessons learnt from the recent sub-prime crisis, and issues arising from the revised IFRS 3 on Business Combinations. Registration for the public seminar is already closed.