International Adoption Issues: A View from the IASB

Patricia McConnell

I would like to tell you a little bit more about myself, because there is a false perception that the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) is a purely foreign, if not entirely British, organization made up of auditors and accounting theoreticians. As you can tell by my accent, I am an American. More than one-quarter of IASB board members are American. It is the same with the trustees, and generally holds true with the IASB's technical staff. And while I passed the cPA exam almost 40 years ago, I spent most of my career in the equity research department of Bear Stearns, where I was in the accounting and tax policy group, which supported Bear's analysts and its clients in interpreting accounting information and using it in financial analysis and securities valuation. So, I tend to think more like a financial analyst or an investor than a preparer, auditor, or theoretician. Being a financial statement user for more than 30 years, I have a slightly different perspective on IFRS [International Financial Reporting Standards] adoption issues, so my remarks may differ somewhat from the views you may have heard from others.