SEC IFRS Roadmap moves slowly and relentlessly forward

NEW YORK, April 27, 2009 – PricewaterhouseCoopers’ leading International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) experts will be discussing the most recent and important developments in the move to adopt international accounting standards in the United States in a live webcast tomorrow afternoon. The discussion will address the latest thinking on IFRS from regulators, standard setters and other constituents on the debate over when, and how, IFRS should be adopted for use by U.S. domestic registrants.

Beginning at 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 28, the event will be a 75-minute live video webcast, including a Q&A session at the end. Read original article.

To register for the webcast, please go to http://www.meetpwc.com/rsvp/invitation/invitation.asp?id=/m2c53c-1RHZ5W5F6LNWI. Once you register, you will receive a confirmation email with a link and access instructions for joining the webcast.

The deadline expired Monday on the 150-day comment period for the SEC's "Road Map" to adoption of IFRS. Amid uncertainty in the U.S. and global economies, and notwithstanding concerns that have surfaced from a wide range of constituents about costs and timing, the drive toward creating a unified set of high-quality financial reporting standards continues to move forward.

According to a newly released PwC report, IFRS is already affecting U.S. companies independently of moves to eventually adopt IFRS in the United States. The impact will broaden considerably over the next few years as ongoing convergence of U.S. GAAP and IFRS brings key changes to U.S. financial reporting. Those changes will have numerous implications for U.S. businesses, most notably revenue recognition, leases, consolidations and pensions. In these areas, in particular, companies may need to rethink certain business operations, strategies and agreements as a result of convergence (ranging from sales staff compensation to compliance with certain debt covenant agreements).

Meanwhile, companies are already feeling the indirect effect of IFRS adoption by their foreign subsidiaries and counterparties, particularly in customer and vendor transactions. These two simultaneous movements—ongoing IFRS adoption around the globe and convergence in the United States—will bring near-constant change to US financial reporting for years to come.

The discussion, which will highlight PwC’s point of view, and what the Firm sees as the next steps the SEC will take in moving toward adopting IFRS in the US, will be moderated by the Firm’s US IFRS Practice Leader, John J. Barry. Also taking part will be:

• David B. Kaplan, PwC partner and leader of the International Accounting Consulting Services team;


• David Schmid, PwC partner and leader of U.S. Global Accounting and Consulting Services;


• Angie Blomberg, partner in the firm's Transaction Services practice and a leader in the firm's IFRS efforts in the financial services industry;


• Richard Fuchs, PwC partner and IFRS Steering Committee member with extensive experience in IFRS conversion during postings in Germany, London and Hong Kong.