Press Release
German accounting standard setter adopts
new structure
Internationalization a key focus of the GASC reorganization
(Berlin, 27 March 2003) The Members’ Meeting of the
German Accounting Standards Committee (GASC), the standard
setter for financial accounting and reporting in Germany,
has approved a far-reaching reorientation of the GASC. With
a new executive leadership and a revised governance structure,
the GASC aims to play a more active role in setting international
standards and representing the interests and concerns of German
business. The new Chairman of the GASC’s Executive Board is
Prof. Dr. Harald Wiedmann, Chairman of the Board of Management
of the German arm of audit firm KPMG. Dr. Helmut Perlet (Allianz,
Deputy Chairman) and Dr. Werner Brandt (SAP, Treasurer) were
also elected to the three-member Executive Committee.
The GASC is adapting the focus of its work and its internal
organization to align itself with the shifting global financial
accounting and reporting environment. The GASC’s key objective
is to represent the interests and concerns of German business
in international standard-setting bodies, such as the IASB
and the FASB. "By international standards, Germany has
high quality financial reporting, and this is due in particular
to the GASC and its work in recent years", noted Prof.
Dr. Harald Wiedmann, the new Chairman of the GASC’s Executive
Board. "However, the internationalization of accounting
is making rapid progress, and this reorientation is our response
to this challenge. The core objective of our work is to adequately
represent the interests of German business in international
standard-setting bodies. At the same time, we want to work
together with the Federal Ministry of Justice on the further
development of competitive national solutions".
Two developments have been driving the process of international
change in financial accounting and reporting, as well as its
impact on German companies. The first of these is the EU-wide
legislation adopted in 2002 that will require (almost) all
companies in Europe with listed equity or debt securities
to prepare their consolidated financial statements in accordance
with the International Accounting Standards (IASs). The second
is the growing presence of German companies on US stock markets.
This in turn is accompanied by an obligation to file annual
and interim reports in accordance with United States Generally
Accepted Accounting Principles (US GAAP), or at a minimum
in the form of a reconciliation from national accounting standards
or IASs.
The restructuring of the GASC also incorporates the realignment
of standardization processes to match international best practice.
In the future, this will see all phases in the development
of accounting standards occurring in the public arena. For
example, all parties affected by accounting standards, in
particular companies, professional associations and academics,
will be given an opportunity to comment. Once the public discussion
process has been wound up, the German Accounting Standards
Board (GASB), the actual standard-setting body in the GASC,
will then elaborate the statutory basis of the standards under
the terms of its standardization mandate. "We believe
that this revised standardization process will effectively
integrate corporate needs and concerns with the necessary
regulatory environment, enabling them to be implemented jointly",
commented Prof. Dr. Wiedmann.
The shift in emphasis of the work of the GASC will be accompanied
by the reorganization of its governance structure. The GASC
is a private standard-setting organization that is currently
supported and funded by 137 German companies and personal
members. In future, it will be managed by an Executive Board
of up to 14 members. As Chairman, Prof. Wiedmann succeeds
Dr. Jürgen Krumnow (Deutsche Bank), who served in this
capacity for several years. Prof. Wiedmann praised the achievements
of his predecessor, noting that as a founding member of the
GASC, Dr. Krumnow had played a major role in shaping the work
of the standard setter since 1998, and had thus significantly
influenced the high quality of German financial accounting
and reporting. Another retiring GASC Board member is Dr. Werner
Seifert (Deutsche Börse), formerly Deputy Chairman. Dr.
Seifert too was "one of the driving forces behind German
standard setting work", according to Prof. Wiedmann.
In addition to the three members of the Executive Committee,
comprising Prof. Dr. Wiedmann (Chairman), Dr. Helmut Perlet
(Deputy Chairman) and Dr. Werner Brandt (Treasurer), the other
members of the DRSC’s new Executive Board are: Prof. Dr. Clemens
Börsig (Deutsche Bank), Prof. Dr. Adolf Coenenberg (University
of Augsburg), Dr. Manfred Gentz (DaimlerChrysler), Karl-Ludwig
Kley (Lufthansa), Heinz Joachim Neubürger (Siemens),
Prof. Dr. Bernhard Pellens (Ruhr University of Bochum), Dr.
Klaus Sturany (RWE) and Hans Wagener (PricewaterhouseCoopers).
The Executive Board will shortly elect additional new members
to the German Accounting Standards Board. Prof. Dr. Klaus
Pohle (formerly CFO at Schering) is expected to be elected
President.
For further information, please contact: Liesel Knorr, General
Secretary, Tel. +49 (0)30/206412-11
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