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Move to unify financial reporting standards
Move to unify financial reporting standards
According to the GAAP Convergence 2002 report, of a total of 59 countries surveyed are in the process of converging their national standards of financial reporting with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). The report showed a marked leap forward in a worldwide movement towards this trend, with 58% of the countries intent on replacing their national accounting standards with IFRS for all listed companies. An additional 22% of the countries said they were adopting on a standard-by-standard basis, while 20% said they were eliminating differences between national standards and IFRS as and when practical.
Based on research carried out by the world's six largest accounting firms to gauge the extent and maturity of IFRS preparations around the globe, the report found that Malaysia was among the countries that had formal plans in place to achieve convergence with IFRS, especially for listed companies.
The report said while an overwhelming majority of countries had formally indicated their intention to converge, there were still disagreements in some countries with the requirements of certain IFRS, such as financial instruments and standards on fair value accounting.
(Source: The Star, 12 February 2003)