SEC cautions against individual versions of IFRS

The Securities and Exchange Commission has hit back at accounting regulators
around the world who have tailored IFRS to suit their local markets.

Speaking at a corporate governance conference in Washington yesterday, SEC
chairman Christopher Cox said that regulators in different countries should
avoid revising International Financial Reporting Standards to meet the needs of
local markets.

‘Regulators must beware the impulse to develop nationally tailored versions
of IFRS, and we must cooperate with one another in implementing a set of
standards that is faithfully and consistently applied,’ said Cox.

Concerns have especially increased recently with a push from the European
Union to have the SEC accept its version of IFRS,
WebCPA.com
reported.

Cox, however, cautioned against different countries wanting to preserve
differences in their accounting standards: ‘In some cases, convergence and
harmonisation are the best approach. In other cases, an intentionally different
national approach is best; and sometimes simply offering investors a choice
after full disclosure is the way to go.’

Further reading:

Row
brews over IFRS variant

Speech
By SEC Chairman Christopher Cox: Keynote Address To The 2007 US-EU Corporate
Governance Conference

Europe criticises IASB over convergence with US GAAP