The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced today that it will host two roundtable discussions in December on issues surrounding the growing prevalence of International Financial Reporting Standards.

The first roundtable, on Dec. 13, will address the issues arising from the current co-existence of two accounting standards in the U.S. markets — a development that has been accelerated by Europe’s decision to mandate IFRS for all public companies beginning in 2005. Under current rules, public companies with U.S. listings that are domiciled in other countries often use IFRS.

The roundtable will consist of two panels, which will look at the effect of allowing foreign companies the choice of whether to use IFRS or U.S. GAAP, and denying that same choice to U.S. issuers. The first panel will explore these issues primarily from the perspective of U.S. investors, issuers, and markets, and the second panel primarily from the perspective of the global markets.

The second roundtable, on Dec. 17, will focus on the practical issues surrounding the possible future use of IFRS by U.S. companies. The first panel will explore these issues primarily from the perspective of U.S. investors, issuers, and markets. The second panel will discuss the experience of those global markets and foreign companies that have already completed the transition to IFRS.

“For several years, U.S. investors have witnessed the growing use of IFRS in U.S. markets by overseas companies with U.S. listings,” says SEC chairman Christopher Cox. “In effect, for the last few years U.S. investors have been dealing with two competing accounting systems — IFRS for many U.S. listed companies from overseas, and U.S. GAAP for domestic issuers. The mandatory use of IFRS throughout Europe and increasingly throughout the world requires us to consider the impacts on our domestic markets.”