Three New Developments—US Capital Markets Reforms Get Serious

Originally published 25 June 2007.

In the US last week, new developments highlighted the increasing momentum for real reform of the regulation of the US capital markets. These developments should ultimately help make life easier for non-US companies, and others, seeking to raise money in the US.

Late last week, the SEC voted unanimously to propose amendments to disclosure requirements for non-US securities issuers, allowing them to use financial information prepared according to the English version of IFRS (International Financial Reporting Standards) when communicating with the US investing public. In the past, non-US issuers have had to produce costly and time-consuming reconciliations of their financial information to US GAAP. Under the proposed amendments, the reconciliation requirement would disappear for users of English-style IFRS. The proposed amendments should soon appear in written form, at which point a timetable for adoption should be provided