Financial Accounting Foundation Enhances Stakeholder Feedback Procedures
As part of its continuing efforts to improve its oversight activities and to further increase transparency for stakeholders, the Board of Trustees of the Financial Accounting Foundation (FAF) recently announced an enhancement intended to make it easier for stakeholders to raise potential concerns about compliance with the due process procedures of the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) and the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB).
This enhancement, available to the public via the FAF website, enables stakeholders to flag for the FAF’s Oversight Committee alleged failures of either the FASB or the GASB to follow their due process procedures as outlined in the FAF Bylaws.
In a news release, the FAF said that stakeholder correspondence with the Oversight Committee will require reasonable specificity regarding an alleged failure by either board to follow due process on an authoritative standard-setting project and will ideally cite the specific provisions of the bylaws that have allegedly been violated. Correspondence can be anonymous, but it will not be possible for committee members to direct any follow-up questions to anonymous authors.
If the allegations raise meaningful due process issues, the Oversight Committee will investigate further. If the committee determines the FASB or the GASB did not appropriately follow their due process, the trustees will determine what remedial action is necessary based on the circumstances.
Stakeholders can find the new correspondence form on the FAF website.