In October, the IASB continued its work, often conjointly with the FASB, on a wide range of subjects, giving pride of place to the revision of IAS 39 and issuing additions to IFRS 9 for financial liability accounting.

Each new step in this process appears to widen the gap with US GAAP: whereas IFRS 9 does not challenge the IAS 39 model for measuring financial liabilities (by default, at amortised cost), the FASB is leaning at present towards an extension of financial liabilities measured at fair value. This particular project raises the real possibility that world-wide accounting convergence fail to materialise, unless the FASB decides to backpedal...

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Beyond the GAAP, October 2010 issue