ACCOUNTING STANDARD SETTING IN THE INTERNATIONAL ARENA: UPDATE ON THE CONVERGENCE PROJECT

Our paper contributes to the literature on international accounting by focusing on the standard setting process. As documented by research literature, accounting regulation can enhance corporate governance (Melis and Carta, 2010), corporate reporting being expected to reduce information asymmetry. Based on accounting research and trade literature we first synthesize recent evolutions in the international accounting arena. We therefore position our study within current realities significantly marked by uncertainty in relation to the world wide globalization process. The objective of our paper is to perform an analysis that would help assess further developments of the convergence project. This is done by looking at the current status of the projects being developed under the IASB â€"FASB collaboration, as well as by developing a comparison between IFRS and US GAAP. The employed research methodology relies on analyzing data provided through the IASB and the FASBâ€(tm)s websites, as well as other official documents being issued by the two Boards. The assessment of the projects was done by reviewing exposure documents and monitoring the Boardsâ€(tm) deliberations, while the developed comparison requires accounting regulations content analysis. Concluding upon the Boardsâ€(tm) ongoing projects, we might identify areas in which convergence seems to be quite close (such as revenue recognition and leasing), but also areas in which convergence becomes even more challenging (such as financial instruments or the particular case of offsetting). Similar to other studies being developed within accounting research and trade literature (SEC 2011: 8) we may conclude that, generally, US GAAP present more detailed, specific requirements than IFRS.