Global Accounting Effort Gains A Step

The Securities and Exchange Commission took an important step toward what many hope will eventually lead to a global accounting standard, dropping a requirement that non-U.S. companies with U.S. listings reconcile their results to U.S. rules.

That sets the stage for the SEC to consider whether U.S. companies should be able to choose between U.S. and international rules, as well. If that were to happen it could potentially pave the way for the abandonment of U.S. generally accepted accounting principles, the foundation of the U.S. financial reporting system.

The idea is that a single set of global accounting rules would make life simpler for investors and companies alike. Companies wouldn't have to spend as much to compile accounts for their operations around the world, while investors would find it easier to compare corporate results for companies on a global basis.

But even as the drive toward a global standard gains steam, potential problems loom. While markets are global, individual countries and regions differ on whether they should operate to benefit investors, companies or in some cases governments.

That could ultimately undermine a single set of standards if countries and regions take different approaches to formulating and applying the rules. A thicket of different interpretations could make a single set of rules unreliable for investors. That is why some critics say it is too early to move in this direction.

Concerns over dropping the reconciliation requirement were raised by some large U.S. investors, including the California Public Employees' Retirement System, which manages $240 billion. In a letter, Calpers expressed concern about consistent auditing and enforcement of international rules to ensure credible financial statements.

While acknowledging the opposition and 'tremendous' hurdles -- including educating auditors and investors -- to reaching a global accounting standard, the SEC's commissioners voted 4-0 to drop the reconciliation requirement. Chairman Christopher Cox called the step 'significant' and said the agency's acceptance of international rules signaled the continued convergence between these standards and U.S. GAAP.

Non-U.S. companies with financial years ending in 2007 will now be able to stop reconciling their results with U.S. GAAP immediately, if their results comply with rules set by the International Accounting Standards Board. While the SEC's move opens the possibility that U.S. companies could choose between international and U.S. standards, the commission hasn't formally proposed a rule to allow this. The agency is still studying the issue.

Separately, the SEC voted to propose overhauling offering documents, or prospectuses, issued by mutual-fund companies. The proposal, if adopted, would require fund companies to state in plain English a summary of the fund's investment objectives, costs and risks, as well as briefly detail the fund's top 10 holdings at the front of the document. The fund industry's Investment Company Institute applauded the SEC's move.

The SEC also finalized rules to make it easier for small businesses to raise money.

When it comes to accounting standards, some commissioners still worry it's too soon for a complete embrace of international rules. 'If there is wide latitude . . . investors will not only lose confidence in the reliability of financial statements but also will lose the consistency that U.S. GAAP provides,' Commissioner Annette Nazareth said.

Despite the growing connections between international markets, countries and regions still differ sharply in who those markets are intended to serve first. In the U.S. and the United Kingdom, markets are generally investor-driven. Financial statements, and the rules that govern them, are designed with investors' needs generally taking priority over those of companies and auditors.

Elsewhere in Europe, investors' needs often take a back seat to corporate or political goals. In China, meanwhile, companies, markets and investors are all subservient to the needs of the ruling Communist Party.

'I think you could have one set of standards, but given the differences in countries' institutions and perceptions and views the implementation is going to be different and the enforcement is going to be different,' said Teri Lombardi Yohn, an associate professor of accounting at Indiana University who testified last month at a Senate subcommittee hearing on international standards.

Proponents of a single, global accounting system say sufficient protections could assure that the body that crafts international rules, the IASB, is buffered from political interference.

美国证券交易委员会(Securities and Exchange Commission，简称SEC)周四取消了在美上市的外国企业所提交财务报告必须符合美国公认会计准则(GAAP)的规定，许多人希望此举能为全球会计准则的最终形成带来重要推动。

在做出这一决定后，SEC还将权衡美国公司是否可以在本国会计准则和国际会计准则之间二选一。若果真如此，则可能为美国公认会计准则退出舞台铺平道路，而该准则正是美国财务报告体系的基础。

采用全球统一会计准则的目的是简化投资者和公司的操作。公司不必再花重金来为世界各地业务编制会计报表，同时投资者也能更方便地对全球公司进行业绩比较。

然而，尽管推动制定全球标准的力量有所增强，但潜在问题也已浮出水面。虽然市场已形成了全球化的格局，但是不同国家和地区的企业在为谁谋利这一点各不相同：有些为了投资者，有些是为了公司，还有的着眼于国家利益。

如果不同国家和地区用不同方法制定和实施会计准则，那么最终可能会使编制统一准则的计划以失败收场。在投资者看来，针对该准则的各种不同解释将使其可靠性降低。正因如此，一些批评人士表示现在就试图制定统一会计标准为时过早。

美国一些大型投资机构对SEC这一决定表示了担忧。拥有2,400亿美元资金的加州公务员退休基金(California Public Employees' Retirement System)就是其中之一。该基金在一份信函中表示，它对审计的连贯性以及实行该准则能否保证财务报告的可信度感到担心。

虽然SEC委员承认统一国际会计准则面临反对意见以及包括培训审计人员和投资者在内的巨大障碍，但还是以4票对0票通过了取消对外国公司的财务报告限制规定。SEC主席克里斯托弗•考克斯(Christopher Cox)称这一步意义重大，并表示SEC对国际准则的接受表明美国公认会计准则正与国际标准不断融合。

对于那些本财年截止在2007年的外国公司来说，如果其会计报告符合国际会计准则理事会(International Accounting Standards Board，简称IASB)制定的标准，那么它们现在就可以不再按照美国公认会计准则编制他们的财务报表了。SEC的举措也为美国公司提供了另一种可能，即它们日后或许可以从国际准则和美国准则中选择其一，但SEC并未正式提议允许这种做法，目前该问题仍处在研究阶段。

另外，SEC还提议修改共同基金公司的募股说明书。如果该议案被采纳的话，那么基金公司将必须用简单的英语撰写一份关于基金投资目标、成本以及风险的概要，并要在文件开头简要说明基金的十大投资项目。基金业的美国投资公司协会Investment Company Institute对SEC此举表示欢迎。

SEC还确定了有关小企业集资的规定，使这一过程更为容易。

一些SEC委员仍担心现在就向国际标准完全靠拢为时过早。SEC委员安奈特•纳扎雷斯(Annette Nazareth)指出，如果范围太广的话，投资者不但会对财务报告的可靠性丧失信心，财务报告也会失去美国公认会计准则所提供的连贯性。

尽管国际市场之间的联系日益增强，但各个国家和地区仍然在市场的优先服务对象上有所不同。在美国和英国，市场通常是由投资者推动的。财务报告的编制和相关准则的制定都是为了服务于投资者，他们的需求通常比公司和审计人员得到优先考虑。

在欧洲，投资者的需求通常会让位于公司和政治目标。而在中国，公司、市场和投资者都要为中国共产党的需求让路。

印地安那大学(Indiana University)会计学副教授特里•永(Teri Lombardi Yohn)上个月在参议院下属委员会召开的关于国际会计准则的听证会上作证称：“我认为你可以采用一套标准，但是不同国家的制度、理解以及观念各异，所以执行起来也会不同。”

全球统一会计体系的拥护者则表示，若采取充分的保护措施就可以减少国际会计准则的制定机构、即IASB所受到的政治干预。

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