Link: World edges closer to global standards
Frits Bolkestein, internal market Commissioner, said: ‘The announcement… will in particular help the US Securities and Exchange Commission to accept financial statements prepared by EU companies in accordance with IAS, without reconciliation to US GAAP, for the purposes of listing on US markets.’
He added: ‘The recent (Enron etc) scandals have shown how important top quality accounting standards are for the health of all financial markets,’ adding that the deal would improve the efficiency of global capital markets, cutting costs, improving comparability and enhancing corporate governance.
The move will undermine criticism of Brussels’ IAS legislation, which had been attacked for forcing EU companies to use accounting models that were not used in the US.