The Accounting Standards Board (ASB) has today issued a Financial Reporting Exposure Draft (FRED) of Improvements to Financial Reporting Standards.

The amendments proposed in the FRED arise as a consequence of the International Accounting Standards Board’s (IASB) annual improvements process. In May 2008 the IASB issued an International Financial Reporting Standard, ‘Improvements to IFRSs’, which made amendments to a number of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).

The ASB is issuing this FRED which seeks to maintain the existing levels of convergence between UK and International Financial Reporting Standards. The proposals set out in the FRED include the same improvements to UK FRS as those made to IFRS where the UK standard is based on its international equivalent.

In addition to the improvements arising from the IASB’s annual improvements process the ASB has taken this opportunity to propose improvements to UK FRS which have been brought to its attention; to update UK IFRS-based FRS where the equivalent IFRS has been amended or updated; and finally to update UK FRS for editorial changes.

The ASB is inviting comments on its proposals by 27 September 2008.

1. The ASB is an operating body of the The Financial Reporting Council (FRC), the UK’s independent regulator responsible for promoting confidence in corporate reporting and governance. Its functions are exercised principally by its operating bodies (the Accounting Standards Board, the Auditing Practices Board, the Board for Actuarial Standards, the Financial Reporting Review Panel, the Professional Oversight Board and the Accountancy and Actuarial Discipline Board) and by the FRC Board. The Committee on Corporate Governance assists the Board in its work on corporate governance.
2. The main role of the ASB is to issue accounting standards. The ASB collaborates with accounting standard-setters from other countries and the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) both in order to influence the development of international standards and in order to ensure that its standards are developed with due regard to international developments.
3. The ASB has eleven Board members, of whom two (the Chairman and the Technical Director) are full-time, and the remainder, who represent a variety of interests, are part-time.
4. Press enquiries should be directed to Ian Mackintosh (Chairman) on 020 7492 2434, David Loweth (Technical Director) on 020 7492 2420 or Michelle Crisp (Project Director) on 020 7492 2432.
5. The FRED is available free of charge on the ASB’s website at: http://www.frc.org.uk/asb/technical/projects/project0075.html  Hard copies are available, price £6.00 (post-free) from FRC Publications, 145 London Road, Kingston Upon Thames, Surrey, KT2 6SR Telephone: 020 8247 1264. Email: customer.services@cch.co.uk  Website: www.frcpublications.com