§ Earl Russellasked Her Majesty's Government:
Further to the Answers given by the Baroness Hollis of Heigham on 27 May (HL Deb, cols. 103942), who appoints or elects the members of the British Accounting Standards Board; what are their terms of reference; to whom and how they are accountable; and how the "membership" to which they are responsible is defined. [HL4595]
§ Baroness Hollis of HeighamThe Accounting Standards Board Limited is a company limited by guarantee, the sole director of which is the Financial Reporting Council Limited. The operating arm of the Accounting Standards Board Limited is the Accounting Standards Board (ASB). Its role is to develop accounting standards. It is recognised for that purpose under the Companies Act. The ASB is part of the private sector process of self-regulation which has the strong support of government.
The stated aims of the ASB are to establish and improve standards of financial accounting and reporting, for the benefit of users, preparers and auditors of financial information. The ASB collaborates with accounting standard setters from other countries and with the International Accounting Standards Board ( IASB) in order to ensure that its standards are developed with due regard to international developments and it is the policy of the ASB to consult widely on any proposals.
The ASB is limited to a maximum of 10 members. The chairman of the ASB, Mary Keegan, is a full-time member as is the technical director, Allan Cook CBE. The remaining members of the ASB are part time and are drawn from the business, finance and accounting sectors.
124WAAppointments to the ASB are made by an appointments committee comprising the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) chairman and deputy chairmen, currently Sir Bryan Nicholson, Sir lain Valiance and Michael Groom respectively, together with three members of the FRC. The ASB is accountable to the FRC.
The chairman and deputy chairman of the FRC are appointed jointly by the Bank of England and DTI and funded jointly by them and industry.