SEC launches three task forces with international regulators
SEC Chairman Christopher Cox held a meeting of the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) Technical Committee on Monday, Nov. 24 to discuss regulatory issues in the ongoing credit crisis. Together they launched three task forces to support the goals established by the recent G-20 summit.
The technical committee task forces will address:
- Short selling. Work to eliminate gaps in various regulatory approaches to naked short selling, including delivery requirements and disclosure of short positions
- Unregulated financial markets and products. Examine ways to introduce greater transparency and oversight to unregulated market segments
- Unregulated financial entities. Examine issues surrounding unregulated entities such as hedge funds, including the development of recommended regulatory approaches to mitigate risks associated with their trading and traditional opacity
One of Cox’s goals in convening the meeting was to ensure that the interests of investors are taken into account as international accounting standards are. The SEC recently released its proposed roadmap to a convergence of U.S. GAAP with the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). The roadmap is open for a 90-day review and is likely to incur many obstacles.
One obstacle that will meet with resistance is the potential price tag that early adopters will face during their first three years of filing with IFRS. The SEC estimates that it will cost approximately $32 million per company for the first three years of filings on Form 10-K under IFRS. Companies will be faced with running parallel sets of accounting books – a practice that will require more training, technology and accounting staff.
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LAST UPDATED 11/25/2008