Just over a year ago, in a proposed 'roadmap', the Commission sought public comment on a proposed approach with respect to a possible path to greater use of IFRS in the US and suggested a number of milestones that the Commission might consider as important in making that evaluation. That public comment period ended in April of this year, and the staff has spent considerable time over these last few months focusing our attention on the very insightful input we received through that comment process, as well as evaluating potential courses of action....

While there are a number of operational, structural and transitional challenges that must be addressed, I believe the fundamental focus of our evaluation of implementing a set of high quality international standards must be on the impact to investors. I believe that implementing a single set of global accounting standards for US issuers can, and must, be done only in a manner that is beneficial to US capital markets and consistent with the SEC's mission of protecting investors. As we continue to evaluate such a monumentally important initiative, I believe we must carefully consider and fully understand and address issues, such as:

• US Investor understanding of and perspectives on IFRS;
• The development and application of IFRS for use as the single set of globally accepted accounting standards for US issuers;
• The impact on the US regulatory environment;
• Preparer considerations, including, among other matters, changes to accounting systems, changes to contractual agreements, corporate governance considerations, and litigation contingencies;
• Human capital readiness; and
• The role of the FASB in achieving the goal of a single global standard.