Tweedie won't pursue 'convergence at any price'

He was responding to critics who have slated the body over its segmental
reporting standard in particular, said to be a wholesale adoption of US rules.

‘In Europe and elsewhere, some view the convergence programme with concern. I
am here today to state that the
IASB is not seeking
convergence at any price, nor will the IASB adopt US GAAP blindly.’

Tweedie lashed out at his critics before the Economic and Monetary Affairs
Committee, directly rebutting UK investors who went to the

EU parliament after they were rebuffed by the International Accounting
Standards Board.

The comments, though forthright, are unlikely to silence the debate on
convergence, which has reached an unexpected pitch in recent weeks.

Ernst
& Young’s global head of IFRS, David Lindsell said that the chairman had
a ‘delicate balancing act’ to maintain.

‘The Europeans are starting to develop scepticism about the convergence
project,’ he said.

‘Convergence of accounting rules is possible. But the real question is
whether the cultural environment in the US will be such that they will be able
to have principles-based accounting, using judgment.’