MEPs call for tighter scrutiny of IFRS

European MEPs want more scrutiny of accounting standards issued by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) with an emphasis on less complex rules, in addition to tougher scrutiny of whether standards allow tax fraud, as well as improved governance of the IFRS Foundation, which has oversight of the IASB.

The European parliament motion was tabled in a report by the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) and was debated on 6 June.

In the report, ECON rapporteur, Theodor Dumitru Stolojan, criticised the ‘decision usefulness’ model of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).

Stolojan said: ‘This “decision usefulness” model of accounting is not entirely consistent with the “capital adequacy” function of accounting as described in European Court of Justice (ECJ) case law and the Accounting Directive.’

‘The conc