IASB otimista com a adoção do IFRS pelos EUA

O Sir David Tweedie, do IASB, se mostrou otimista em relação à adoção do IFRS pelos Estados Unidos ainda este ano, segundo a reportagem veiculada pelo Financial Times, no último dia 22.

As últimas notícias publicadas mostraram que o processo de convergência sofreu um atraso em relação ao prazo final de Junho/11, como até já mostrado no Blogabilidade. Mesmo assim, o Tweedie afirmou que o que interessa ao SEC é o alinhamento dos pontos mais críticos, e que estes pontos poderiam ser concluídos neste ano. O IASB quer promover esta convergência o quanto antes possível, até porque recebe pressão do G20 para isso. Um dos pontos que ainda está pendente é a mensuração dos instrumentos financeiros.

Segue matéria na íntegra:


IASB optimistic on US rules timingBy Adam Jones in London

The US could still sign up to international accounting rules this year in spite of repeated delays to preparatory work, according to one of the main cheerleaders for the mooted switch.

Sir David Tweedie, chairman of the International Accounting Standards Board, said the world’s biggest economy could still decide in 2011 to drop its domestic accounting standards, known as US GAAP.

Supporters of an “Esperanto for accounting” claim it would benefit investors, companies and regulators.

However, preparatory work to rewrite the IFRS and US GAAP systems to make them more compatible has been plagued by delays.

Key projects due to finish in June 2011 have now slipped into the second half of the year amid concern that the dash for “convergence” has damaged the quality of new rules written under intense time pressure. A long-standing project to create new standards on insurance accounting has also slipped into 2012.

Sir David told the Financial Times that the delays announced this month did not mean that the US Securities and Exchange Commission would not be able to decide on IFRS adoption in 2011 as planned.

The SEC did not need to see finished versions of all the new rules first, he argued: “They want to see that most of it is done.”

A progress report issued this week by the IASB and its US counterpart, the Financial Accounting Standards Board, showed that there are still major transatlantic disagreements in key areas of their joint work plan. The valuation of financial instruments such as loans has been particularly fraught.

The FASB has had to row back on an unpopular plan to increase greatly the amount of “fair value” accounting, also known as “mark to market,” in this area.

When the US standard-setter releases an alternative proposal on financial instrument classification and measurement in the third quarter, the IASB will consult on whether to change its own approach, creating fresh uncertainty.

There has also been a mixed reception for a complicated transatlantic compromise on loan loss accounting – a particularly controversial issue during the financial crisis.

Sir David also hit back at criticism from the UK’s House of Lords, whose economic affairs committee recently claimed that IFRS had promoted a box-ticking culture in UK accounting.

The peers had been misinformed about the way IFRS worked, he claimed.

It was “absolute rubbish” to suggest that IFRS inhibits the presentation of a “true and fair view” based on professional judgment, he said.

Fonte: Financial Times - http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/38bac1d4-6cfa-11e0-83fe-00144feab49a.html#axzz1KOpKf3X7