SEC Releases IFRS Proposal; Report on Review of IFRS Filings

July 2, 2007

FEI Summary

On July 2, 2007, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) released its Proposed Rule, "Acceptance from Foreign Private Issuers of Financial Statements Prepared in Accordance with IFRS Without Reconciliation to U.S. GAAP." The comment deadline on the proposed rule is September 24.

A further expansion to potentially allow U.S. issuers the alternative of filing with the SEC in International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) as an alternative to U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) will be the subject of a separate Concept Release (a more preliminary document than a proposed rule) to be issued by the SEC for public comment later this summer, as previously noted in SEC’s April 26 press release updating the IFRS "roadmap."

SEC Staff Report on Review of IFRS Filings, Webpage with Related Correspondence Posted

On July 3, the SEC published a press release formally announcing publication of the Proposed Rule, as well as publication of an SEC staff report summarizing the SEC staff review of IFRS filings and the posting of a  webpage containing correspondence to and from companies regarding their IFRS filings.

A summary of the SEC staff report can be found in this FEI blog post. For real-time delivery of FEI blog posts, signup here.

Impact of IFRS to be Considered by SEC Advisory Committee on Financial Reporting

The growing acceptance of IFRS around the globe, and the impact relative to the U.S. regulatory landscape, is one of the items to be considered by the SEC’s Advisory Committee on Improvements to Financial Reporting, previously summarized here.

Learn More at FEI’s Global Financial Reporting Conference: What IFRS Means to the GAAP Filer

Mixed views about IFRS among CFOs were cited in the most recent Quarterly CFO Survey published by FEI-Baruch College on June 27. The survey also covered a number of other current topics.

FEI President and CEO Michael P. Cangemi, who serves as a member of the Financial Accounting Standards Board’s (FASB) Financial Accounting Standards Advisory Committee (FASAC) and the International Accounting Standards Board’s (IASB) Standards Advisory Committee (SAC), said in a June 27 press release announcing the results of the FEI CFO survey, "The globalization of the capital markets demands that we create a dialogue about the virtues of GAAP and IFRS. At this point, U.S. financial executives need to become more familiar with IFRS. It will at some future point have an impact on how financial statements are prepared."

You can prepare for the expanding impact of IFRS by attending FEI’s “Global Financial Reporting Conference – What IFRS Means to the GAAP Filer, ” scheduled for September 28 in New York City. The conference will feature top regulators and experts among its speakers. Further information is in the agenda.

Register for FEI’s Global Financial Reporting Conference before August 31 to receive an early registration discount. FEI members also receive a discount vs. non-members. Learn about the many benefits of FEI membership here, or contact membership@FinancialExecutives.org.

Other summaries from:

Deloitte - July 2007

Deloitte - Aug. 2007

Updated September 7, 2007 by Edith Orenstein eorenstein@FinancialExecutives.org, Director, Technical Policy Analysis, Financial Executives International (FEI). This summary does not represent FEI opinion unless specifically noted above.