International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) chairman Hans Hoogervorst, who replaced Sir David Tweedie in 2011, noted in a speech in Moscow that wherever he goes in the world, he is asked one question more than any other: Will the U.S. come on board with IFRSs, and if so, when and how?

Hoogervorst said, “I have no privileged insight regarding the SEC’s internal decision making. However, the SEC’s chief accountant said in public recently that the SEC will make a decision on IFRS in the coming months.” Hoogervorst added, “It is also important to note that the U.S. is committed to supporting global accounting standards. It is SEC policy, it is U.S. Government policy and it is the policy of the G20, in which the U.S. is a key player.

“There are many practical challenges facing the SEC in making the decision. I don’t deny that they are real. I and my counterpart at the FASB have made it clear that a continued program of convergence by another name is not an acceptable way forward. I do believe that the U.S. will ultimately come on board. Quite simply, they need us and we need them.”

On the subject of lease accounting, Hoogervorst conceded “this is a difficult area, but one where improvements are needed. For many companies, lease obligations represent their greatest area of off balance sheet financing.

“Despite what you may hear, we have not set out to kill the leasing industry. Leasing provides many important economic benefits to companies and that will not change. All we ask is that these transactions are accounted for in a way that is transparent to investors. It seems odd to me that investors must guess what a company’s liabilities from leasing are, even though management has this information at its fingertips.”

The boards are finalizing the revised proposals and we expect to publish a further exposure draft for public comment shortly.

To read the full text of Hans Hoogervorst’s speech click here.