The Canadian Securities Administrators say that it is prepared to recommend exemptive relief to allow issuers to file their financial statements in accordance with international accounting standards ahead of the 2011 implementation date.

The CSA issued a notice updating the market on staff’s views on the issues addressed in a concept paper that was published on February 13 concerning the use of International Financial Reporting Standards issued by the International Accounting Standards Board.

The regulators received 42 comment letters on the paper, and based on that an other input, have developed their views on the issues addressed in the paper.

The CSA notice states that staff recognize that some issuers might want to prepare their financial statements in accordance with IFRS prior to he January 1, 2011, mandatory changeover date. “Staff are prepared to recommend exemptive relief on a case by case basis to permit a domestic issuer to prepare its financial statements in accordance with IFRS-IASB for financial periods beginning before January 1, 2011,” the notice says.

“We expect an issuer contemplating the possibility of adopting IFRS before 2011 would carefully assess the readiness of its staff, board of directors, audit committee, auditors, investors and other market participants to deal with the change. An issuer should also consider the implications of adopting IFRS before 2011 on its obligations under securities legislation including those relating to CEO and CFO certifications, business acquisition reports, offering documents, and previously released material forward-looking information,” it adds.