IFRS 'clock is ticking', warns Herz
Regulator warns credit crisis could delay US' embrace of IFRS
Robert Herz
Bob Herz, the head of the US Financial Accounting Standards Board, has warned
that IFRS could be delayed by the problems in financial markets.
‘The clock is ticking,’ Herz told delegates at PwC’s Meet The Experts summit
this week.
Last month, the SEC announced that it was fine-tuning an IFRS roadmap before
rolling it out to US companies for comment, but the moves have been affected by
the global crisis in the financial markets.
‘Events in the credit markets have probably led to delays in publishing of
the roadmap for consultation. It may be for the next administration to deal
with,’ Herz said.
Herz countered suggestions that the economic crisis had damaged the prospects
for IFRS in the US: ‘I would personally hope that it reinforces the idea that
global problems need global solutions.’
Even though efforts are being made to get IFRS adoption under way proper,
Herz added that the SEC dropping its requirement for foreign issuers to
reconcile their accounts to US GAAP had been unexpected.
‘It came to the surprise of some,’ said Herz. ‘They did it a little bit
earlier than they might have.’