US public companies should be given the option
to adopt IFRS, the American Institute of Certified Public
Accountants (AICPA) has recommended to the Securities and Exchange
Commission (SEC).
AICPA chairman Paul Stahlin and president and
chief executive Barry Melancon said US issuers should be given the
option to adopt IFRS regardless of whether or not the SEC decides
to “incorporate IFRS into the US financial reporting system through
an endorsement or convergence approach.”
In a four page letter to the SEC, the national
institute said it thinks one common financial reporting language
would benefit investors, as well as issuers and capital markets,
because it would facilitate the comparison of reporting entities
domiciled in different countries.
“We believe the standards issued by
International Accounting Standards Board are best positioned to
become those global standards,” Stahlin and Melancon said.
The SEC is due to make its decision about the
convergence of IFRS with US GAAP and about a phased timeline for US
adoption of IFRS later this year.