SEC roundtable on IFRS, GAAP, and subprime crisis

The Securities and Exchange Commission will host a roundtable on Monday, August 4 to analyze the performance of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (U.S. GAAP) during the recent period of market turmoil.

"This roundtable will provide the Commission with valuable insights from investors, issuers, auditors, and others about the way that both IFRS and U.S. GAAP performed in the context of the current pressures on the marketplace," said SEC Chairman Christopher Cox. "We are particularly interested in how the two sets of standards dealt with the key accounting issues in the subprime crisis, including off-balance sheet entities and fair value."

The SEC's roundtable will take place from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. and consist of two panels that will include investors, issuers, auditors, and various other parties with experience in financial reporting. Additionally, representatives from the Financial Accounting Standards Board and the International Accounting Standards Board will be present as observers.

The roundtable will be held in the auditorium at the SEC's headquarters at 100 F Street, N.E., Washington, D.C. The agenda, including a list of participants and moderators, will be issued shortly. The roundtable will be open to the public with seating on a first-come, first-served basis, and also will be webcast on the SEC Web site.

The Commission welcomes feedback regarding any of the topics to be addressed at the roundtable. The information that is submitted will become part of the public record of the roundtable.

Submissions to the Commission may be provided by any of the following methods:

Electronic submission options:

Use the Commission's Internet Submission Form.
Send an e-mail to rule-comments@sec.gov.

Paper submissions:

Send paper submissions in triplicate to

Florence E. Harmon
Acting Secretary of the Securities and Exchange Commission
100 F Street, N.E.
Washington, D.C. 20549-1090

All submissions should refer to File Number 4-564. This file number should be included on the subject line if e-mail is used. To help process and review submissions more efficiently, please use only one method. The Commission will post all submissions on its Web site at www.sec.gov.
Please note that all submissions received will be posted without change. The SEC does not edit personal identifying information from submissions. Only information desired to be shared publicly should be submitted.