SEC votes to publish Proposing Release on IFRSs for foreign issuers

On June 20, 2007, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) voted unanimously to publish a "Proposing Release" on accepting from foreign private issuers financial statements prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs) without reconciliation to U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). Currently, foreign private issuers (i.e., private-sector entities whose securities trade publicly in the U.S.) must either file financial statements prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP or file statements under alternative standards and reconcile those statements to U.S. GAAP.