06 February 2008

IOSCO urges public companies to clarify use of accounting standards

IOSCO published a statement urging publicly traded companies to provide investors with clear and accurate information on the accounting standards used in the preparation of their accounts.

“IOSCO is concerned that, with the convergence of global accounting standards, investors may assume that all company accounts are generally comparable, even when they are prepared in accordance with quite different generally accepted accounting principles (GAAPs)”, Michel Prada, Chairman of the IOSCO Technical Committee, said. This commonly occurs where national standards assert that they are based on but do not fully implement International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).

“We are recommending that all publicly traded companies include information which clearly explains the basis on which their accounts have been prepared”, Mr Prada added.

Press release

Statement

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