This summary has been developed to help you stay up-to-date with events involving the IFRS® Foundation's Asia-Oceania office (AO office) in Tokyo, Japan—including workshops, conferences, discussions and consultations. It covers the six months from September 2018-March 2019.
March 2019: JFAEL IFRS Seminar in Tokyo
The Japan Federation of Accounting Education and Learning (JFAEL) held its annual IFRS seminar, entitled 'Sharing IFRS practice and transition experience', in Tokyo, with support from the IFRS Foundation. Board Member Tak Ochi and IFRS Interpretations Committee (IFRS IC) Member Goro Kumagai were invited to present the latest Board and IFRS IC updates.
February 2019: IFRS Foundation Trustee Chair visits Tokyo
After the IFRS Foundation Trustees meeting in Kuala Lumpur, Trustee Chair Erkki Liikanen and IFRS Foundation Executive Director Lee White visited Tokyo to attend a meeting hosted by the Financial Accounting Standards Foundation (FASF), at which Liikanen gave a speech. In addition, the FASF interviewed Liikanen and White for an article in the March edition of Accounting Standards magazine. Liikanen and White also met Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso, FSA Commissioner Toshihide Endo, Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda and other Japanese government officials for more discussions around the progression of IFRS Standards.
January 2019: AO office responds to Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) public consultation on its market structure
The TSE published a consultation paper titled Review of TSE Cash Equity Market Structure, and asked for public comment on their plan to reform the TSE market structure. The AO office submitted a comment letter, stating that 'encouraging members of the TSE First Section to apply globally accepted accounting standards would further enhance attractiveness of the TSE to global investors'. All comments submitted to the TSE can be viewed here. The TSE currently accepts IFRS Standards, Japan GAAP, US GAAP and Japanese Modified International Standards (JMIS) as reporting standards.
December 2018: Australian Accounting Standards Board (AASB) Chair visits AO office
AASB Chair Kris Peach visited the AO office for a general meeting to discuss what the office can do to support standard-setting in the Asia-Oceania region.
November 2018: JICPA IFRS seminar in Tokyo
The Japan Institute of Certified Public Accountants (JICPA) and JFAEL hosted their annual IFRS Standards conference in Tokyo and invited Board members Darrel Scott and Tak Ochi as speakers. Scott and Ochi discussed the Board's current focus, including the better communication and goodwill projects. They also participated in a panel discussion entitled 'Making disclosures more meaningful'.
November 2018: AOSSG meeting in Singapore
AO office Director Makoto Takahashi attended the Asian-Oceanian Standard-Setters Group (AOSSG) annual meeting held in Singapore. In the meeting he discussed recent AO office activities and furthering cooperation with the AOSSG.
November 2018: Financial Instruments with Characteristics of Equity (FICE) outreach in Tokyo
Board Member Tak Ochi and IASB technical staff member Kumar Dasgupta conducted FICE outreach in Tokyo with the Accounting Standards Board of Japan, academia, preparers and banks.
October 2018: China, Japan and Korea standard-setters meeting in Busan
AO office Director Makoto Takahashi attended the '2018 Three Countries Standards Setters Meeting - China, Japan, Korea', hosted by Korean Accounting Standards Board (KASB) in Busan, South Korea. Takahashi reported recent AO office activities and discussed further cooperation with the China Accounting Standards Committee and KASB.
September 2018: Asia Securities Forum (ASF) Tokyo Round Table
The Japan Securities Dealers Association hosted the ASF Tokyo Round Table, comprised of Asian securities markets authorities. AO Office Director Makoto Takahashi was invited as a speaker, and he used the opportunity to share AO office activities with attendees.
Ongoing work: technical projects
Staff in the AO office are currently working on Classification of Liabilities as Current or Non-current (Amendments to IAS 1) and Updating a Reference to the Conceptual Framework (Amendments to IFRS 3).
The Classification of Liabilities amendment is expected in the second half of 2019, and the Exposure Draft for Updating Reference to the Conceptual Framework is expected to be published in the second half of 2019.
In addition, AO staff are partially involved in other projects including Goodwill and Impairment, Financial Instruments with Characteristics of Equity, Primary Financial Statements and Provisions. In November 2018 IASB technical staff member Joan Brown visited the AO office to supervise the projects assigned to the AO office.
