The International Financial Reporting Standards Foundation, or IFRS Foundation, is a nonprofitaccounting organisation. Its main objectives include the development and promotion of the International Financial Reporting Standards through the International Accounting Standards Board, which it oversees. The IFRS Foundation states that its mission is to develop IFRS Standards that bring transparency, accountability and efficiency to financial markets around the world, and that their work serves the public interest by fostering trust, growth and long-term financial stability in the global economy. The foundation was formerly named the International Accounting Standards Committee until a renaming on 1 July 2010. It is governed by a board of 22 trustees and the IFRS Foundation Monitoring Board.
Activities
Standard-setting
The IFRS Foundation sets out IFRS and their interpretations, which include the following:
interpretations provided by the International Financial Reporting Interpretations Committee ;
interpretations provided by the Standing Interpretations Committee ; and
other pronouncements.
Of these, the IAS and the SIC interpretations are previously-developed standards and interpretations that were developed by the IASC and have been adopted by the IASB and the IFRIC respectively when they were formed. The Standards are developed and published by the IASB, a 14-member standard-setting body of the IFRS Foundation, while the IFRIC interpretations are provided by the IFRIC. Via the IASB, the IFRS Foundation also sets out the IFRS for small and medium-sized entities to better meet the needs of SMEs and relieve the burden imposed on them by the full IFRS Standards.
IFRS Taxonomy
The IFRS Foundation also develops and maintains the IFRS Taxonomy. The IFRS Taxonomy consists of elements that can be used to tag disclosures in financial statements prepared using IFRS Standards. Tagging makes information computer-readable and, therefore, more accessible to investors and other users of electronic company financial reports. The eXtensible Business Reporting Language is used to represent and deliver IFRS Taxonomy content. IASB Chairman Hans Hoogervorst noted that the IFRS Taxonomy is already used by a wide variety of market participants and regulators. For example, the US Security and Exchange Commission requires foreign private issuers in the United States to use the IFRS Taxonomy. Also, European companies will be required to use the IFRS Taxonomy starting from 1 January 2020, under a draft regulatory standard published by the European Securities and Markets Authority.
Organisation and governance
The IFRS Foundation's executive director is Lee White, who was the inaugural Chief Executive Officer of Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand. The IFRS Foundation is funded in part by country-specific funding regimes involving stakeholder groups, or levies and other contributions through regulatory authorities, and also by self-generated income. The foundation is governed by a board of 22 trustees, including
The trustees' responsibilities include appointing members to and establishing the operating procedures of the IASB, Interpretations Committee and Advisory Council, and approving the Foundation's budget. They are accountable to a monitoring board of public authorities, the IFRS Foundation Monitoring Board.
