The Board considered that in implementing these recommendations there was a need to considerably simplify the standards to improve their accessibility. It also decided that:

• There was a need for the standards to address the valuation of financial instruments;
• That the standards should not be presented as a rule book for valuers but a set of principles for good valuation practice that would be equally accessible and useful to valuation users and others interested in valuation.

In June 2010 an Exposure Draft of the proposed new Standards was published with a comment period of three months.

Following an initial review of the comment letters received at its meeting on 8 October 2010, the Board confirmed that it would undertake further consultation by arranging Round Table discussions with invited participants to discuss the main issues raised by the comment letters. These meetings were held in Hong Kong, London and New York.

After further review of the comment letters and of the Round Table discussions, the Board tentatively decided at its meeting in November 2010 that the following major changes should be made to the Exposure Draft:

• To create an IVS Framework containing much of the material in IVS 100 – 103 in the Exposure Draft. The Board accepted that that much of this material was in the nature of a discussion and did not set mandatory requirements. Although the discussion of valuation concepts and principles is essential for the proper understanding and application of the IVSs, these needed to be clearly separated from those standards that set requirements as to what should be done in the course of a valuation assignment.
• To create a new general standard dealing with the implementation phase of a valuation assignment. This would be include material that was more suited to a mandatory standard from the proposed IVS2 and IVS3 in the Exposure Draft, and fill a gap that some perceived existed between the scope of work and reporting standards. This was an alternative presentation of material proposed in the Exposure Draft intended to improve the logic and flow of the standards. It would contain no requirements that were not proposed in the Exposure Draft and therefore the Board agreed that no specific exposure period was required for this new standard.
• To reorganise the Asset Standards (the 300 series in the Exposure Draft) so that the requirements of each standard are more clearly distinguished from the background discussion. This is to be done by putting the “standard” first and following this with the discussion of the nature of the assets in the sector, identification of valuation approaches commonly used and matters that are material when considering their value. In most cases the standard is brief, containing only specific requirements for the application of the principles contained in the general standards to that asset class.
• The 201 series on Financial Reporting should restructured and presented differently. The majority of the text in the Exposure Draft will be retained but clearly presented as guidance on various valuation requirements under IFRS, and it should also be made it clear that IFRS, or such other accounting standard that may be relevant, are the standards that must be followed.

In February 2011 a Staff Draft was published incorporating the above amendments and many minor changes agreed by the Board. A number of comments were received on this draft.

At its meeting in March 2011 the Board considered a series of further comments and suggested amendments proposed by members of the Board and others. Subject to the changes agreed during this meeting, the Board unanimously approved all of the standards included in the Staff Draft except for IVS 232, Trade Related Property. The Board considered that further consultation is required on the interaction between this proposed standard and IVS 200 Businesses and Business Interests and IVS 230 Real Property Interest and has subsequently approved a dedicated project on this topic.

The Board also agreed that the approved standards would be effective from 1 January 2102, with earlier adoption encouraged.

A hard copy of the approved standards was published in July 2011, and for personal use only pdf files of the individual standards may be downloaded from this web site.

Translations of the International Valuation Standards

The official language of the IVSC is English. However, the IVSC recognises that it is important that preparers and users of valuation reports, regulators, academia, students and other interested parties in non-English speaking countries have access to the standards. The IVSC has granted permission to the following organisations to translate and reproduce the standards. The IVSC has not reviewed the quality of the translations