The future chairman of the IASB is hopeful that accounting standards around the world can be harmonized, despite opposition in the US to how financial instruments are treated.
While there have been protests in the US over the use of fair value, which threatens plans to converge US accounting standards with IFRS, Hans Hoogervorst told the Financial Times: “It is not a foregone conclusion to me that in the end there will be more divergence than convergence [on financial instruments]. I think both systems could come very close together.”
The US Financial Accounting Standards Board favours greater use of fair value with financial instruments, while the IASB wants less emphasis on its use. The US will decide next year whether it switches to international standards.
Further reading:
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