2008-EFRAG-comment

INTERNATIONAL Route des Morillons 15 Tel: (41 22) 929 88 88 CO-OPERATIVE 1218 Grand-Saconnex Fax: (41 22) 798 41 22 ALLIANCE Geneva E-mail: ica@ica.coop Switzerland Website: www.ica.coop European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG) 13-14 avenue des Arts 1210 Brussels Belgium Email: commentletter@efrag.org Geneva, 28 July 2008 Dear Sir/Madam, On behalf of the international co-operative community of 800 million members, we are writing to you to comment on the discussion paper “distinguishing between liabilities and equity” and its potential impacts on co-operative businesses. The International Co-operative Alliance (ICA), established in 1895, is an association of 220 national co-operatives in 87 countries. Our members are highly concerned about the adoption of new international accounting standards and their impact on the co-operative model of business. Co-operatives – a significant part of the global economy The co-operative sector represents a significant contribution to our global economy. According to the ICA annual survey, Global 300, the top 300 co-operatives around the world had nearly $1 trillion in revenues in 2005. That is only slightly less than the economy of the world's ninth largest economy, Canada. Co-operatives create over 100 million jobs, more than all of the multinational corporations combined. Co-operative enterprises also contribute to every sector of the economy and are among the largest ...