The Group of North American Insurance Enterprises (GNAIE) is pitching in to reform accounting standards.

The GNAIE has joined a new coalition of trade associations, the Financial Instruments Reporting and Convergence Alliance (FIRCA), which represents all sectors of the economy and areas of the financial services industry. FIRCA will work with the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) and the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) on a number of projects that aim to reform accounting standards that will address the recent financial crisis.

GNAIE executive chairman Jerry de St. Paer said the drive to reform accounting standards is gaining new momentum, both in the United States and in other countries. For example, the Obama administration recently announced regulatory reform measures that include an acceleration of accounting reforms related to the financial crisis.

"These developments make it essential for the insurance industry and other affected businesses to provide input, assistance, and perspective to U.S. and international standard setters that will enable them to develop high-quality, robust standards," de St. Paer said. "Our new coalition will help attain those goals."

In April, the Financial Crisis Advisory Group (FCAG), a joint committee of FASB and IASB, informed G-20 leaders of efforts to overhaul accounting rules. These projects include efforts to replace, update, or converge the current accounting standards for financial instruments, consolidation, and derecognition.

According to de St. Paer, members of FIRCA are committed to the following principles:

1. Supporting the adoption of joint IASB-FASB international accounting standards. These standards should present financial information transparently and in a manner that is reflective of the business operations of an entity. They should not drive economic activity.
2. Assisting standard setters by providing a wide range of input to ensure the proper consideration of business operations and potential unintended consequences in the development and implementation of accounting standards.
3. Insuring that these projects are conducted jointly and will result in a comprehensive response to financial reporting policies.

Besides GNAIE, other founding members of FIRCA include the American Council of Life Insurers, Commercial Mortgage Securities Association, Council of Federal Home Loan Banks, Mortgage Bankers Association, Property Casualty Insurance Association of America, the Financial Services Roundtable, the Real Estate Roundtable, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.