In its November 9, 2007 issue, The Wall Street Journal ran "Mind the GAAP", an op-ed piece written by James S. Turley, Chairman and CEO of Ernst & Young. If you're a Journal subscriber (which you must be in order to access the article), I highly recommend Jim's piece as it bears directly on this week's SEC vote regarding the elimination of the requirement for "foreign private issuers" (i.e., non-U.S. private-sector entities whose securities trade publicly in the U.S.) to reconcile their financial statements to U.S. GAAP if they prepare the statements in accordance with IFRSs as issued by the IASB. It is also relevant to the conclusion this week of the comment period on the SEC's Concept Release regarding the possibility of allowing U.S. issuers the option to prepare financial statements under either IFRSs or U.S. GAAP.
Key Quote: "At Ernst & Young, we will weigh in with strong support for the SEC to set a certain date for a shift to IFRS."