In a bid to develop a new two to three-year strategic plan for its board, the trustees that oversee the US accounting standard setter will be launching a new 'listening tour' across the country. The Financial Accounting Foundation trustees, overseers of the Financial Accounting Standards Board, are to meet with small closed discussion groups of investors, auditors, academics and regulators in New York, Dallas, San Francisco, Chicago and Washington, as well as with standing advisory groups of FASB, Reuters reports. Issues on the agenda will be the convergence between IFRS and US accounting standards - a subject that has incurred much debate between businesses and the Securities and Exchange Commission - along with FASB's relationship with the SEC and the role of the FAF in overseeing FASB's independence. The news comes just a week after concerns over FASB's independence and bowing to political pressures over mark-to-market accounting rules were highlighted in a letter to the trustees by the Investors Technical Advisory Committee, the investor panel set up by FASB. FASB spokesman Neil McGarity said that the meetings will act as 'a key building block' in its strategic plan. 'This outreach process we are undertaking is a continuation of the work that the FAF trustees did over the last few years. Although it's not something new, it's a strategic and ambitious programme to map out the course ahead,' he added.