accountingcpd.net author, Lisa Weaver, reflects on Hans Hoogervorst’s recent speech in Hong Kong, about how the use of IFRS is developing globally.
By Lisa Weaver
On 5th June 2013, Hans Hoogervorst, Chair of the IASB, delivered a speech in Hong Kong, in which he spoke about the great strides that have been made in the global use of IFRS in recent years. The speech coincided with the publication of 66 jurisdictional profiles that have been compiled by IASB staff over the last year, which summarise the level of adoption or convergence with IFRS around the world. The profiles are based on survey responses from national standard setters, securities regulators and large accountancy firms.
The research shows overwhelming support for the use of IFRS as the single set of global accounting standards. 80% of the jurisdictions covered in the survey have adopted IFRS for use by all, or almost all, public companies, with Hoogervorst commenting on this being remarkable given that the shift to IFRS reporting has occurred only in the last 10 years. Even more remarkable is the fact that more than half of the jurisdictions have adopted the IFRS for Small and Medium Entities, given that this standard is only 4 years old.
Hoogervorst also commented that many jurisdictions have adopted IFRS with very little local amendments being made. This he says is testament to the high quality content of IFRS and the fact that changes made to IFRS at the national level tend to be viewed negatively by investors and other stakeholders.
Certain jurisdictions were singled out for specific mention - China, Japan, and the USA, which are all approaching IFRS in a different way. China has substantially converged national GAAP with IFRS; Japan is allowing the use of IFRS and some listed entities have already made the transition; and in the US more than 450 entities report using IFRS. Clearly there is still a long way to go before IFRS truly is the truly globally accepted financial reporting framework, but the conclusions of the IASB research indicate that momentum is growing and there will be pressure on jurisdictions that have not yet adopted or converged with IFRS to do so in the not too distant future.
You can access the relevant section of the IASB website and to view the profiles of jurisdictions that took part in the research here.
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