SEC: 'We'll be tough on IFRS numbers'

Wayne Carnall says restatement requests will be discussed with European regulators committee

Written by Alex Hawkes

Accountancy Age, 01 May 2008

The US Securities and Exchange Commission has vowed to be as tough when reviewing financial statements prepared under IFRS as it is on numbers issued under US GAAP, Reuters has reported.

'Unequivocally, we will review financial statements prepared under IFRS (International Financial Reporting Standards),' said Wayne Carnall, deputy chief accountant in the SEC's division of corporation finance.

'We will comment on financial statements, we will challenge the accounting under IFRS and if the financial statements are wrong and do not comply with IFRS we will require those companies to restate,' he added.

Carnall also said that any restatement requests would be discussed first with the Committee of European Security Regulators (CESR).

'There have been a limited number of situations where we have consulted with (the CESR), and we will certainly do so in the future,' Carnall said.