European Commission grants equivalence in relation to third country GAAPs

The European Commission has adopted measures which determine that GAAPs in the US, Japan, China, Canada, South Korea and India are equivalent to International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). The Commission will review the situation of some of these countries (China, Canada, South Korea, India) by 2011. It will also regularly monitor the ongoing status of equivalence. The measures mean that foreign companies listed on EU markets will continue to be able to file their financial statements prepared in accordance with those GAAPs (the transitional provisions allowing the use of these GAAPs in the EU would otherwise have expired at the end of 2008). (Read the Press Release.)