Available for Sale Securities: US GAAP vs IFRS

Thanks

Thanks John for the help.

GAAP vs. IFRS

CON: The SEC’s November 15, 2007 RulingByJohn DamicoJuly 6, 2008

IntroductionOn July 11, 2007 The SEC Commission issued a proposal to amend Form 20F and Regulation S-X to accept financial statements from foreign issuers without reconciliation to GAAP (Securities & Exchange Commission, 2007). Various opinions reflect that due to globalization, a single set of conformed guidelines is needed for financial statements for all qualified users.The Commission has proposed and implemented a ruling that will impinge on financial statement users on a global scale. With this ruling comes a number of significant issues that have not been addressed by the SEC or IASB. In addition to these challenges, the Commission and the IASB have agreed on a preposterously tight deadline of 2 years to complete a full convergence of this ruling. The Commission should reverse its November 15,2007 decision because the ruling’s adverse effects influence the following:- US and EU capital markets- political and legislative inconsistencies- the price of the SEC ruling -complexities for global financial statement users-audit concerns as a result of the SEC rulingThe legislative and regulatory bodies will have turbulent political and economical consequences on global accounting standards. Examples in this paper will show how the ruling of November 15, 2007 has already caused inconsistencies in financial reporting. Finally, this paper describe the challenges that accounting professionals will face with the full convergence of IFRS. These challenges stem from the lack of experienced staff and trained professionals in the US on matters related to IFRS.

AFS GAAP vs. IFRs

Michael,

To answer your question,IFRS and GAAP treat financial assets similarly, except GAAP recognizes unrealized gain/loss on availablefor sale securities in Other Comprehensive Income and IFRS allows either the equity or income statement treatment.

I don't know if these helps, I have recently did a lot of research related to the differences of IFRS vs. GAAP. I will cut and paste my report into the body of this text, it may be useful to understand some of the differences of IFRS and GAAP/ Please keep in my the report is somewhat biased since I had to choose a position of preference for the purpose of this report.