SEC roundtable on IFRS 'roadmap'

08 Mar 2007

On 6 March 2007, the US Securities and Exchange Commission conducted a public roundtable on the IFRS 'roadmap' at its offices in Washington.

SEC Chairman Christopher Cox and European Commissioner for the Internal Market and Services Charlie McCreevy both made opening addresses. Their remarks were followed by three panel discussions on topics related to the potential effects of a co-existence of IFRS and US GAAP models in the US capital markets. (See our News Story of 3 March 2007 for details.)

6 March 2007 US SEC Roundtable on IFRSs
SEC Chairman Christopher Cox An excerpt from his address: The rationale for a global standard, rather than the Babel of competing and sometimes contradictory national standards, has been often stated. But it is so important that it bears repeating. Global accounting standards would improve investor confidence in the market, so long as the standards are high-quality, comprehensive and rigorously applied. They'd allow investors to draw better comparisons among investment options. They'd also lower costs for issuers, who would no longer have to incur the cost of preparing financial statements using different sets of accounting standards. And those lower costs would benefit the company's shareholders, who ultimately bear the burden of the entire cost of the financial reporting system. Click for Chairman Cox's Address (PDF 124k) EC Commissioner McCreevy An excerpt from his address: I am convinced accepting IFRS without reconciliation in the US capital markets will have very positive effects. It will bring more openness to capital markets, it will benefit US investors, and it will facilitate access for third country issuers to US financial markets. And contribute to a more coherent global regulatory structure. Let me underline this: this is in the US' interest, just as much as in ours and can and will be done in a way that will benefit and safeguard US investors. Click for Commissioner McCreevy's Address (PDF 71k) Webcast Link to SEC Webcast Archive of the Roundtable

6 March 2007 US SEC Roundtable on IFRSs

SEC Chairman Christopher Cox

An excerpt from his address:

The rationale for a global standard, rather than the Babel of competing and sometimes contradictory national standards, has been often stated. But it is so important that it bears repeating. Global accounting standards would improve investor confidence in the market, so long as the standards are high-quality, comprehensive and rigorously applied. They'd allow investors to draw better comparisons among investment options. They'd also lower costs for issuers, who would no longer have to incur the cost of preparing financial statements using different sets of accounting standards. And those lower costs would benefit the company's shareholders, who ultimately bear the burden of the entire cost of the financial reporting system.

Click for Chairman Cox's Address (PDF 124k)

EC Commissioner McCreevy

An excerpt from his address:

I am convinced accepting IFRS without reconciliation in the US capital markets will have very positive effects. It will bring more openness to capital markets, it will benefit US investors, and it will facilitate access for third country issuers to US financial markets. And contribute to a more coherent global regulatory structure. Let me underline this: this is in the US' interest, just as much as in ours and can and will be done in a way that will benefit and safeguard US investors.