Accounting Standards Convergence Advancing

Efforts to reconcile Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (U.S. GAAP) and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) are on track.

Speaking before the council of the European Union, Sir David Tweedie, chairman of the International Accounting Standards Board, said the effort to converge the standards is bearing fruit. “Both the FASB and the IASB have agreed common principles to help us to achieve a common standard,” Tweedie said. “That is our objective. At the same time, the IASB is conscious of the strongly held view of investors and other stake-holders internationally that a combination of cost-based and fair-value accounting remains appropriate for financial instruments.”

Tweedie said the work between the London-based IASB and the Norwalk, Conn.-based Financial Accounting Standards Board was intensifying. “These intensive discussions are achieving positive results. We plan to publish seven joint proposals in the next quarter. The Boards individually will also propose other changes to bring their own standards in line with each other.”

He also noted that in February that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) reaffirmed its commitment to make a decision in 2011 to adopt converged standards by 2015 or 2016.

"For nearly 30 years, the Commission has promoted a single set of high-quality globally accepted accounting standards, which would advance the dual goals of improving financial reporting within the U.S. and reducing country-by-country disparities in financial reporting," SEC Chairman Mary L. Schapiro said in a statement. "But supporting this goal is only the beginning of the discussion, not the end."

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