The publication describes the organisation’s public interest focus by concentrating on three main topics:
- a discussion of who the audience of IFRS is, stating that the public at large is a stakeholder in the standard-setter’s work; that investors are the primary audience but that financial reporting is also a vital source of information for the regulatory community;
- a look at the characteristics of IFRS, explaining that accounting standards aim to portray economic reality as faithfully and neutrally as possible, rather than shape it, and why this sometimes leads to heated debate as people’s views on what is economic reality and how best to present it differ; and
- an explanation of the organisation’s three-tier structure, governance and funding, describing the checks and balances in place to ensure independence of the IASB and how the ultimate oversight of the organisation lies with capital market authorities through the Monitoring Board.