IFRS, U.S. GAAP Performance In Subprime Crisis Topic Of SEC Roundtable
July 29, 2008
FEI Summary

On July 28, 2008 the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced that it will host a “Roundtable on Performance of IFRS and U.S. GAAP During Subprime Crisis,” on August 4. (IFRS is International Financial Reporting Standards, as published by the International Accounting Standards Board. U.S. GAAP is U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Standards, as published by the Financial Accounting Standards Board.)

Roundtable participants include issuers, auditors, investors and others.

SEC Chairman Christopher Cox said the roundtable will address “the way that both IFRS and U.S. GAAP performed in the context of the current pressures on the marketplace."

 "We are particularly interested in how the two sets of standards dealt with the key accounting issues in the subprime crisis, including off-balance sheet entities and fair value," said Cox.

The roundtable will take place from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. and will be webcast.

As is generally the case with SEC roundtables, the announcement noted, “The Commission welcomes feedback regarding any of the topics to be addressed at the roundtable. The information that is submitted will become part of the public record of the roundtable.” Instructions can be found in the announcement for providing comments to the SEC.

Prepared July 29, 2008 by Edith Orenstein, Director, Technical Policy Analysis, Financial Executives International. This summary does not represent FEI opinion unless specifically noted above.