Brussels, 06/12/2006 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 6 December, the Commission adopted a regulation authorising companies established in third countries but quoted on the European stock exchanges to produce financial information in line with their national financial accounting standards, until the end of 2008. This decision will allow the American and European authorities to agree, no later than 2009, on the mutual recognition of the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and the American "US GAAP" standards (see EUROPE 8934).
The new measures amend regulation (EC) 809/2000 for implementing directive 2003/71/EC on the information, structure, prospectus and financial documents a company quoted on the stock exchange must publish. They provide that a third-country issuer may continue to use their own national financial information standards in the EU if: 1) this information contains an explicit and unreserved declaration that International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) are being observed; 2) this information is drawn up in line with the Canadian, Japanese or American financial information standards; 3) this information is drafted according to the financial information standards of the third country. If the last case, the following conditions must be met: the competent authority of the third country has publicly undertaken to come into line with IFRS standards and has established a working programme showing progress made towards the convergence of financial information standards before the end of 2008, and the third-country issuer has shown all relevant competent authorities that the two previous conditions are fulfilled.
The regulation also calls on the Commission to adopt a definition of equivalency between the accounting standards of third countries and the IFRS standards, by 2008. (mb)