Canadá e IFRS

David Tweedie, do IASB, defende a necessidade do Canadá em adotar a IFRS em Canada needs new accounting rules, Financial Post, 06/06/2008, National Post, FP15.

Tweedie defende-se do artigo de Al Rosen no mesmo Financial Post ("IFRS raises some concerns," May 17) sobre a questão da comparabilidade e da adoção de padrões próprios.

Sobre a comparabilidade Tweedie afirma que

It is logical to ask how principle-based standards can offer comparability on the same scale as that provided by many volumes of detailed rules. But this misses the point. U. S. GAAP also is principle-based -- it's just that over the years, more and more guidance has been piled on top to address every conceivable situation, to the point where a whole team of experts is now required to conduct a single audit. As a result of Canada's previous strategy of harmonizing with U. S. GAAP, much of this guidance has been imported into Canadian GAAP.

Tweedie acredita que o IFRS torna mais fácil a comparação entre empresas (não o contrário)

Well, on Jan. 1, 2005, all 27 member states of the European Union simultaneously switched almost 7,000 listed businesses reporting under 25 different accounting frameworks to International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) -- a remarkable achievement.