Of course, no regulatory standard is perfect; and international standards are no exception. But often the value of a universal language outweighs the potential cost and confusion from many different standards – even though each may have its own reasonable claim to superiority. It is for just this reason that the SEC is getting ready next week to consider a final rule that would allow issuers who use International Financial Reporting Standards in their home countries to also use IFRSs in their filings with the SEC, without any longer having to reconcile that to US Generally Accepted Accounting Principles*. And it's why we're considering the concept of offering that same option to US domestic issuers. Our long standing support for international regulatory harmonization was also the reason that, seven years ago, the SEC conformed our prospectus disclosure requirements for foreign issuers to IOSCO's International Disclosure Standards.

*See IAS Plus news story of 8 November 2007.