The trustees who govern the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) have decided to start reporting to a new committee of global regulators in an effort to make themselves more publicly accountable.

The governance and independence of the board has been a hot issue lately, with the standard setter under political pressure to rewrite its reporting rules in the credit crunch and the European Commission looking to change the way its work is funded.

The move implements ideas set out in a consultation paper published by the trustees last July. Members of the International Accounting Standards Committee Foundation, which oversees the work of IASB, suggested the creation of a Monitoring Board to meet criticism from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and other regulators. The process of producing International Financial Reporting Standards needed better governance, the regulators had said.

A spokesman for the trustees said the move fixed “an anomaly” in the foundation’s governance structure. The constitution of IASB is modeled on that of the U.S. Financial Accounting Standards Board, which is overseen by the Financial Accounting Foundation (FAF). While the FAF’s trustees are accountable to the collection of financial and government bodies that appoint them, the trustees who monitor IASB were not formally accountable to anyone.

The new Monitoring Board, effective from February 1, includes representatives from the European Commission, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the Japan Financial Services Agency, and the Emerging Markets and Technical Committees of the International Organization of Securities Commission (IOSCO). The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision will sit as a formal observer at meetings.

The Monitoring Board’s main responsibilities are to ensure that the trustees discharge their duties under the foundation’s constitution. It will also approve the appointment or reappointment of trustees.

The spokesman said the board will hold its first meeting in April and is likely to meet annually thereafter; there is no obligation on the trustees to make public any report they submit to the board.

The foundation has also gone ahead with plans to expand IASB to 16 full-time members. It currently has 14, two of whom are part-time.