Establishment of the Council on Accounting of Unlisted Companies

February 25, 2010
The Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry
The Japan Federation of Certified Public Tax Accountants’ Associations
The Japanese Institute of Certified Public Accountants
The Japan Business Federation
The Accounting Standards Board of Japan

We hereby announce the establishment of the “Council on Accounting of Unlisted Companies” (the “Council”) and a list of its members and observers, owing to the cooperative efforts of relevant stakeholders.

The Council was established in response to the recommendation from the IFRS Council of January 22, which suggested that a council be established as soon as possible by all relevant stakeholders to consider accounting standards of unlisted companies, taking account of the increasing globalization of Japanese accounting standards through the work efforts towards the convergence with the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).

The Council is expected to deliberate on a wide range of issues relating to accounting standards applied to unlisted companies, taking into account the views such that the impact of globalization on unlisted companies should be minimized or avoided in the context of promoting globalization of Japanese accounting standards.

The first meeting of the Council is scheduled on Thursday, March 4.

It is anticipated that Prof. Hideyoshi Ando, a Professor of Commerce at Senshu University (also, the chair of the Business Accounting Council, and the Committee of Accounting Guideline for Small and Medium-sized Entities) will chair the Council. Further, the Council will set up a joint working group consists of the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI), the Japan Federation of Certified Public Tax Accountants’ Associations (JFCPTAA), the Japanese Institute of Certified Public Accountants (JICPA), the Japan Business Federation (JBF), and the Accounting Standards Board of Japan (ASBJ), primarily based on the membership of the aforementioned Committee of Accounting Guideline for Small and Medium-sized Entities.