International Accounting standards

Memorandum of Understanding

“The Norwalk Agreement”

At their joint meeting in Norwalk, Connecticut, USA on September 18, 2002, the Financial

Accounting Standards Board (FASB) and the International Accounting Standards Board

(IASB) each acknowledged their commitment to the development of high-quality,

compatible accounting standards that could be used for both domestic and cross-border

financial reporting. At that meeting, both the FASB and IASB pledged to use their best

efforts to (a) make their existing financial reporting standards fully compatible as soon as

is practicable and (b) to coordinate their future work programs to ensure that once

achieved, compatibility is maintained.

To achieve compatibility, the FASB and IASB (together, the “Boards”) agree, as a matter

of high priority, to:

a) undertake a short-term project aimed at removing a variety of individual

differences between U.S. GAAP and International Financial Reporting

Standards (IFRSs, which include International Accounting Standards, IASs);

b) remove other differences between IFRSs and U.S. GAAP that will remain at

January 1, 2005, through coordination of their future work programs; that is,

through the mutual undertaking of discrete, substantial projects which both

Boards would address concurrently;

c) continue progress on the joint projects that they are currently undertaking; and,

d) encourage their respective interpretative bodies to coordinate their activities.

MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING – FASB and IASB 2

The Boards agree to commit the necessary resources to complete such a major

undertaking.

The Boards agree to quickly commence deliberating differences identified for resolution in

the short-term project with the objective of achieving compatibility by identifying common,

high-quality solutions. Both Boards also agree to use their best efforts to issue an

exposure draft of proposed changes to U.S. GAAP or IFRSs that reflect common

solutions to some, and perhaps all, of the differences identified for inclusion in the short-

term project during 2003.

As part of the process, the IASB will actively consult with and seek the support of other

national standard setters and will present proposals to standard setters with an official

liaison relationship with the IASB, as soon as is practical.

The Boards note that the intended implementation of IASB’s IFRSs in several jurisdictions

on or before January 1, 2005 require that attention be paid to the timing of the effective

dates of new or amended reporting requirements. The Boards’ proposed strategies will be

implemented with that timing in mind.