The Group of North American Insurance Enterprises (GNAIE) has joined a new coalition of trade associations that will engage the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) and the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) to reform accounting standards as a way to address the financial crisis.
The coalition, called the Financial Instruments Reporting and Convergence Alliance (FIRCA), represents all sectors of the economy and financial services arena.
GNAIE Executive Chairman Jerry de St. Paer said the new coalition aims to provide input from different industries and business on the movement to revise accounting standards.
The coalitions formation follows prospective regulatory reforms announced by the Obama administration last week. These reforms will include reviews of accounting rules and an acceleration of accounting reforms related to the financial crisis.
Last April, The Financial Crisis Advisory Group (FCAG), a joint committee of FASB and IASB, wrote G-20 leaders announcing efforts to reform accounting rules.
These efforts include replacing, updating or converging the current accounting standards for financial instruments, consolidation and de-recognition. Some projects are expected to be completed by years end.
According to de St. Paer, the following are principles for the new coalition: to support the adoption of joint IASB-FASB international high quality robust accounting standards; to assist standard setters in providing a wide range of input to ensure appropriate consideration of business in the development and implementation of accounting standards; and, to work with standard setters to ensure that these projects are conducted jointly for a comprehensive response to financial reporting policies.
In addition to GNAIE, founding members of FIRCA are: American Council of Life Insurers, Commercial Mortgage Securities Association, Council of Federal Home Loan Banks, Mortgage Bankers Association, Property Casualty Insurance Association of America, The Financial Services Roundtable, The Real Estate Roundtable and The U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
