International accounting standard setters should be left to deal with the current economic turmoil, according to the Financial Crisis Advisory Group (FCAG).
In a letter to the heads of the G20 group of nations, the FCAG warned against placing other burdens on the US Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) and the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB).
According to the group if this happens, the boards will not be able to achieve their aim of stabilising international markets as they will not be able to focus on the "highly complicated technical work" which the project entails.
"Work on other issues, beyond the commitments the boards have already made, will inevitably lead to delays on the projects that matter most," the letter said.
The boards are working towards a single set of global accounting standards, as the G20 suggested, but this is a challenging issue, it added.
Established by the IASB and the FASB, the FACG is tasked with advising the bodies about the impact of the financial crisis on the process of standard setting and the wider regulatory environment.
Recently, John Varlet, chief executive officer of Barclays Bank, called for the establishment of a single set of international accounting standards.
