About a-team Marketing Services
The knowledge platform for the financial technology industry
The knowledge platform for the financial technology industry

A-Team Insight Blogs

Is the Upcoming G20 Meeting the Only Hope for Convergence of Global Accounting Standards?

Subscribe to our newsletter

Government officials at the April G20 summit agreed that some degree of harmonisation is needed in order to achieve a globally accepted set of accounting standards. However, this year has instead witnessed further divergence on these standards, as the each jurisdiction has sought to tackle the fallout from the downturn in the markets. The US in particular is pursuing a different track than the other 100 countries using International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). Many are therefore pinning their hopes on next month’s G20 meeting in Pittsburgh as a forum for getting convergence back on track.

Regulators and governments have called for increased transparency and greater consistency of global accounting standards in order to level the playing field for firms and investors alike. This has proved easier said than done, however, and the US in particular is aggressively pushing for more forward looking provisioning in accounts to reflect future risks to balance sheets, rather than limiting this to regulatory purposes like Europe.

The mark to market furore is a prime example of how the US has gone a different direction from the rest of the world, as the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) was forced into revising these rules due to lobbying and political pressure. It therefore seems the US’s overhaul of financial regulation has derailed its plans to converge with the standards of other countries.

The US has also thus far failed to give a firm date as to when it will be adopting IFRS in the future. Other jurisdictions are soon to come on board, however, including Japan, Korea, India and Canada, who have all committed to using the standards by 2011.

Although switching to IFRS will pose many technical challenges and prove costly for the market, convergence is necessary, according to the logic of the global regulatory community. Last week, Helen Brand, chief executive of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants in London, commented: “G20 leadership is essential for maintaining commitment to a global solution, and in seeking to avoid national or regional versions of IASB-issued IFRS.”

It will therefore lie in the hands of the attendees at the Pittsburgh summit to thrash out the solution…

Subscribe to our newsletter

Related content

WEBINAR

Upcoming Webinar: Mastering Data Lineage for Risk, Compliance, and AI Governance

18 June 2025 10:00am ET | 3:00pm London | 4:00pm CET Duration: 50 Minutes Financial institutions are under increasing pressure to ensure data transparency, regulatory compliance, and AI governance. Yet many struggle with fragmented data landscapes, poor lineage tracking and compliance gaps. This webinar will explore how enterprise-grade data lineage can help capital markets participants...

BLOG

Spend, Spend, Spend: 2025 Set to be a Year of Bigger Data Budgets

Next year will be one of rising data expenditure by financial institutions as artificial intelligence (AI)-led applications flourish, according to separate surveys. Nevertheless, most aren’t prepared for AI adoption, with organisations having neither the skillsets nor regulatory processes in place, according to another survey. The final flurry of industry studies for 2024 suggest that financial...

EVENT

AI in Capital Markets Summit London

The AI in Capital Markets Summit will explore current and emerging trends in AI, the potential of Generative AI and LLMs and how AI can be applied for efficiencies and business value across a number of use cases, in the front and back office of financial institutions. The agenda will explore the risks and challenges of adopting AI and the foundational technologies and data management capabilities that underpin successful deployment.

GUIDE

AI in Capital Markets: Practical Insight for a Transforming Industry – Free Handbook

AI is no longer on the horizon – it’s embedded in the infrastructure of modern capital markets. But separating real impact from inflated promises requires a grounded, practical understanding. The AI in Capital Markets Handbook 2025 provides exactly that. Designed for data-driven professionals across the trade life-cycle, compliance, infrastructure, and strategy, this handbook goes beyond...