CPA Resources
CPA Resources

It's official: SEC releases IFRS roadmap

WASHINGTON, Nov. 17, 2008 -- The Securities and Exchange Commission has formally released its plan for how public companies should make the switch from U.S. generally accepted accounting principles to international financial reporting standards.

The 165-page "roadmap" lists several goals that, if met, "could lead to the required use of IFRS by U.S. issuers in 2014 if the (SEC) believes it to be in the public interest and for the protection of investors," the proposal states.

"As part of the roadmap, the (SEC) is proposing amendments to various regulations, rules and forms that would permit early use of IFRS by a limited number of U.S. issuers where this would enhance the comparability of financial information to investors," the proposal continues. "Only an issuer whose industry uses IFRS as the basis of financial reporting more than any other set of standards would be eligible to elect to use IFRS, beginning with filings in 2010."

The comment period will run for 90 days after the roadmap is published in the Federal Register.

"The 90-day comment period shifts the potential adoption of the road map to an SEC led by President-elect Barack Obama’s pick to succeed current Chairman Christopher Cox, who has said he intends to resign at the end of President Bush’s term," the Journal of Accountancy reports.

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