The Handbook to IFRS Transition and to IFRS U.S. GAAP Dual Reporting

1.3 IFRS TRANSITION SCENARIO

Massive first-time adoption of IFRSs occurred in 2005 and 2006 in the European Union in connection with EC Regulation 1606/2002.8 In 2007 the CESR reported that from 2005 the IFRS adopters in the countries of the CESR Members numbered 7365, of which approximately 23% from the UK, 13% in Germany, 12% in France, 6% in Bulgaria, 5% in Greece, 5% in Italy, 5% in Sweden, 4% in Spain, and the remainder from other countries.9 EC Regulation 1606/2002 permitted EU Member States to defer the first-time adoption of IFRSs to a financial year starting on or after January 2007 for companies, inter alia, that are listed in a non-member State and report under U.S. GAAP.10

As is well known, the IASB and the FASB are committed to a joint work program as described in their Memorandum of Understanding. The Memorandum of Understanding establishes a roadmap of convergence between IFRSs and U.S. GAAP 2006–2008. The MoU called for issuance of one or more due process documents by 2008. In 2008, the FASB and the IASB updated the Memorandum of Understanding. On September 24–25, 2009 in Pittsburgh, the G20 Leaders endorsed a timeline for convergence of IFRSs and U.S. GAAP by 2011 outlined in the update of the Memorandum of Understanding. In November 2009, the FASB and the IASB reaffirmed their commitment to their Memorandum of Understanding. They issued a joint statement indicating a pathway for completion of the major projects by 2011. In June 2010, they revised their convergence ...