Canadian Securities Regulators Concept Release Suggests Eliminating U.S. GAAP Option,as Canada AcSB Confirms IFRS by 2011

By Edith Orenstein, FEI Financial Reporting Blog - Last week (Feb. 13), Canada’s equivalent to the U.S. FASB – the Canadian Accounting Standards Board (AcSB) announced it has confirmed the move from Canadian GAAP to IFRS, tentatively announced in 2006, will take place as planned, as of January 1, 2011.

Separately, the Canadian Securities Regulators (technically, the Canadian Securities Administrators or CSA) announced on Feb. 13 the issuance of a Concept Release (CSA Concept Paper 52-402) on “Possible Changes to Securities Rules Relating to [IFRS].”

Issues addressed in the Concept Release include use of IFRS by Canadian domestic filers before the Jan. 1, 2011 changeover date, and continued acceptance by Canadian Securities Regulators of U.S. GAAP by cross listed filers who file with the SEC in U.S. GAAP.

The comment deadline on Canada's Concept Release (Concept Paper) is April 13, 2008.

If you're interesting in learining more about IFRS and how it could impact U.S. companies, check out FEI's IFRS Conference on June 5, 2006 in New York City: "The World Is Moving to IFRS - Are You?" listed under "Events" at http://www.financialexecutives.org.

And, if you'd like to read more details about the news in Canada (which also impacts U.S. companies cross-listed in Canada, and for related news on what Canada is considering regarding private companies and IFRS, click here: http://www2.financialexecutives.org/blog/permanent.cfm?post_id=453 .