FASB closer to convergence of global standards.

• Position: FASB News; Financial Accounting Standards Board - Brief Article

FASB has issued four exposure drafts to move U.S. GAAP closer to existing international accounting standards.

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The exposure drafts were the first phase of an ongoing collaboration between FASB and the International Accounting Standards Board that began in 2002.

The exposure drafts propose:

* Voluntary changes in accounting policies that would be applied by retrospective application, rather than by cumulative effect adjustment;

* Three changes to the calculation of earnings per share;

* Asset exchanges that would require a gain or loss to be recognized on the exchange of similar productive assets based...