SEC considers reaffirming commitment to global standards

The US securities regulator is considering issuing another statement of commitment in support of international accounting rules.

The US Securities and Exchanges Commission (SEC) has called a meeting to debate "whether to publish a statement regarding its continued support for a single-set of high-quality globally accepted accounting standards " according to a statement on their website.

If published, it will be the second statement issued by the commission since November 2009, when SEC chairman Mary Schapiro said she was "greatly encouraged by the commitment of the IASB and the FASB to provide greater transparency to the standard setting process and their convergence efforts".

Another statement, while indicating the direction of travel under Schapiro, will still fall well short of a firm timetable for the rollout to international standards in the US.

The SEC continues to deliberate on an adoption roadmap, leaving US and international standard setters with no firm plan indicating how or when international standards will be adopted in the US.

Meanwhile the US Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) and the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) are meeting monthly to converge their two accounting codes, following calls from the G20, the Financial Crisis Advisory Group and the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision.

However, it will be left to the SEC to decide when or if US companies take on the international standards.

Read the full SEC statement