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FASB Warns Government Intervention May Compromise Independence


WASHINGTON, March 21, 2002 Responding to two new bills introduced by Congress that include provisions concerning the Financial Accounting Standards Board, FASB Chairman Edmund L. Jenkins cautioned Congress "that any legislation mandating particular actions or procedures by the FASB can compromise the very independence that the legislation seeks to enhance."



"The Investor Confidence in Public Accounting Act of 2002" would require that the Securities and Exchange Commission recognize generally accepted accounting principles established by the FASB if certain qualifications are met. Those qualifications include that the FASB be funded solely by "fees and charges assessed against each issuer" and "by revenues collected from the sale of materials and publications produced by that body." It also would require that the FASB submit an annual report to Congress and other parties. 

"The Truth and Accountability in Accounting Act of 2002" would require that the SEC annually conduct a review of "unresolved accounting standards issues" and issue a report to Congress and the FASB describing those issues. It also would require that the FASB submit to the SEC and Congress a response to the SEC report.

Despite general support of a fee-based source of funding, FASB Chairman Edmund Jenkins cautioned that "to accept government-collected fees as a replacement of the current private-sector contributions to the not-for-profit Financial Accounting Foundation that has historically funded the FASB, such fee-based funding must be free of substantive conditions, adequate in amount, and not subject to the type of Congressional or executive branch review that invites interference with the technical decisions and independence of the FASB."

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2002 SmartPros Ltd. All rights reserved.

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