1. Go to the Web sites of the International Accounting Standards Board (www.iasb.org) and the U.S. Financial Accounting Standards Board (www.fasb.org). Compare and contrast the two boards in terms of their composition and standard-setting processes.
2. Why is so much attention paid to convergence between International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and U.S. GAAP and not to convergence between IFRS and other national accounting standards? What evidence is there of the direction of convergence: Is U.S. GAAP converging to IFRS, are IFRS converging to U.S. GAAP, or are they converging toward each other?
3. U.S. companies must use U.S. GAAP in their financial statements, not IFRS. Why should U.S. accountants, analysts, and others involved in financial reporting need to know about IFRS?
4. Will the IASB and FASB eventually merge, or will they remain separate accounting standard-setting bodies? Why do you say so?

MINI CASE

Sir David Tweedie, chairman of the International Accounting Standards Board, is quoted as saying that the IASB and the FASB will eventually merge. “U.S. standards and ours will become so close that it will be senseless having two boards and they will merge eventually. . . . Ultimately, it doesn’t make sense having two standard setters producing the same standards.