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Global accounting standards
全球会计准则
Closing the GAAP
弥补差距
America’s commitment to international standards is in doubt
美国是否会如约与国际准则接轨尚未确定
Like railway tracks that appear to converge but never actually intersect, the project to get the world’s big economies to use the same accounting standards cannot quite close a vital gap. America’s public companies currently release financial statements based on the country’s own “generally accepted accounting principles” (GAAP). On July 13th the staff of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) released a long-awaited report on whether America should adopt international financial reporting standards (IFRS), which are accepted by over a hundred countries. The SEC staff declined to recommend IFRS, in a paper that was more negative than observers had expected.
铁轨看似无限靠近，却永无相交之日，让世界大经济体们使用统一会计准则的方案也如铁轨一般，无法消除最重要的差距。目前，美国上市公司以美国自己的“公认会计准则”（GAAP）为基准，发布了一份财务报告。7月13日，美国证券交易委员会（SEC）的工作人员就美国是否应采用国际财务汇报准则（IFRS）公布了一份备受期待的报告，国际财务汇报准则现已被一百余个国家所接受。而美国证券交易委员会的员工却拒绝在这份消极程度远超观察员预期的论文里推荐IFRS。
American adoption of IFRS seemed likely once. The big accounting firms, many multinational companies, the SEC’s own bosses and the G20 club of big economies all blessed the idea of global standards. A parallel project of “convergence”, whereby America’s accounting-standards body and the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) issued norms together, was meant to narrow the gap, making it simpler and cheaper for America to move across.
美国一度与采用国际财务汇报准则擦肩而过。大型会计事务所、众跨国公司、美国证监会的顶头上司以及大经济体组成的G20俱乐部都曾对全球标准这一想法大加赞赏。这项“趋同”的平行方案旨在缩小两项准则间的差距，根据该方案，公司可采用美国会计标准和国际会计准则委员会(IASB)颁布准则进行平行记账，使美国的转换过程更平稳，耗资更少。
But the convergence process—in areas like leasing, insurance and losses on financial instruments—dragged on longer than expected. Bob Herz and Sir David Tweedie, former heads of America’s Financial Accounting Standards Board and the IASB respectively, left their jobs in 2010 and 2011, further dissipating momentum. The SEC itself is distracted by the task of implementing the Dodd-Frank financial-reform law. All agree that no further decisions will occur before America’s presidential election.
然而在租赁、保险、金融工具亏损等领域，趋同的进程拖的比预期更长。前美国财务会计准则委员会(FASB)主席鲍勃·赫兹(Bob Herz)，以及前IASB主席大卫·特维迪爵士分别于2010年和2011年离职，进而冲淡了趋同的势头。美国证券交易委员会肩负落实《多德-弗兰克金融改革法案》的重任，无暇顾忌趋同。各方都赞同，在美国总统选举前，不会就此事做近一步决定。
Boosters continue to talk up IFRS. The head of the IASB, Hans Hoogervorst, called the momentum behind them “irreversible” in a statement issued after the gloomy SEC report. He points out that Japan is the only country whose future move to IFRS may be affected if America stays away. Russia and Canada are recent adopters; China may join them. But a global standard without the world’s biggest economy looks hollow. Four Americans sit on the IASB’s 16-person board in London. Should they get the boot if America rejects the international standards? “I don’t want to think about that right now. We still count on their commitment,” says Mr Hoogervorst.
支持者们继续大肆宣扬IFRS。在悲观美国证监会报告发布后，IASB主席汉斯·胡格沃斯特发表声明称，两项准则趋同的势头“不可逆转”。他指出，如果美国选择置身事外，唯有日本会受其影响，在未来向IFRS迈进的途中犹豫不决。俄罗斯和加拿大新近成为采纳国；中国或即将加入。但是，一个没有世界最大经济体参与的全球标准看似有点浪得虚名。位于伦敦的国际会计准则理事会由16名理事组成，其中有4名美国人。倘若美国拒绝这项国际准则，他们是否会因此被解雇？胡格沃斯特先生说，“我现在不愿想这事，我们仍期望美国能遵守承诺。” 翻译：王葭苇
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