International GAAP 2020

Preface

The IASB reported, in 2018, that 144 of the 166 jurisdictions they have researched require the use of IFRS for all or most domestic publicly accountable entities (listed companies and financial institutions) in their capital markets, and a further 12 jurisdictions permit the use of IFRS. Several large economies such as China, India and Japan do not require IFRS for all or most of their listed companies, but they have made considerable progress to move towards or to converge with IFRS. The United States is the only major economy that is unlikely to allow publicly listed domestic companies to apply IFRS in the near term.

Maintaining the current degree of international convergence of accounting standards requires an ongoing commitment on the part of all jurisdictions involved. This cannot be taken for granted given the increasing desire around the world to bring back control from the international to the national or regional level. In this context it is positive to note, for example, that the Summary Report of the Public Consultation on the Fitness Check on the EU framework for public reporting by companies found that ‘[a] majority of respondents supported the status quo as regards the EU IFRS endorsement process, and cautioned against “EU carve-ins” that could lead to “EU-IFRSs”, a situation that could be detrimental to EU companies active globally and to foreign investments into the EU.’ However, there is a minority that argues in favour of the ability to selectively ...