SEC Chief Accountant discusses IFRS in the US
Dec 05, 2016
On December 5, 2016, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) released a speech by Wesley R. Bricker, the new Chief Accountant of the SEC, given at the annual American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) Conference on Current SEC and PCAOB Developments. At the conference, he spoke about a broad range of topics, including IFRSs in the United States.
Mr. Bricker noted that IFRS is very significant for both U.S. investors and companies, with investors relying on financial statements of companies that operate globally and companies frequently looking abroad for potential targets and investees that use IFRS. Nevertheless, he stated:
On the question of possible further use of IFRS for domestic issuers, I believe that for at least the foreseeable future, the FASB’s independent standard setting process and U.S. GAAP will continue to best serve the needs of investors and other users who rely on financial reporting by U.S. issuers.
Still, he encouraged the FASB and IASB to continue to work together to eliminate differences between their standards. And he noted, that he believed it was worth "continuing to consider the proposal that Jim Schnurr described at an earlier conference of allowing domestic issuers to provide IFRS-based information as a supplement to GAAP financial statements".
Review the full text of Mr. Bricker's speech and previous speeches on the SEC's website.