The Question of IFRS Adoption: A Very Long Engagement

Karthik Ramanna, PhD

Over the past decade, more than 120 countries worldwide have committed, in some form, to adopting a common set of accounting standards—International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS)— including members of the European Union, China, India, and Japan. The United States has also been an important player in the global movement toward IFRS, but it has acted in the unique role of a hyperinfluential outsider. While not formally committed to IFRS adoption, the United States remains a key influence in the determination of IFRS principles. In 2011, four of the 15 IFRS standards setters, five of the 20 IFRS trustees, and the IFRS Foundation's top staffer were American.