Mary Schapiro, just confirmed as the new SEC chairperson, noted plans to re-examine the commission’s proposed “Roadmap for the Potential Use of Financial Statements Prepared in Accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS)” during her confirmation hearings. Then last week, the Financial Executives International (FEI) sent a comment letter formally asking the SEC to consider extending the comment period on its proposed “Roadmap for the Potential Use of Financial Statements Prepared in Accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards.” The FEI request asks the SEC to consider a formal 45-day extension of the comment period, which closes on February 19.

Is IFRS dying or dead? For a compelling perspective, consider the views reported in the January 2009 issue of CFO Magazine. Interestingly, the piece notes that, “Among those mounting a grassroots movement to slow the rush to IFRS are Analyst's Accounting Observer newsletter editor Jack Ciesielski, former FASB member Ed Trott, and Bowling Green State University professor David Albrecht. Among their arguments: “preliminary research from Europe shows that the international ‘standards’ in fact afford investors little comparability among financial statements, one of the key reasons given for U.S. convergence. Niemeier [Charles Niemeier is a member of the PCAOB oversight and a leading critic of the current time line] is also leery of letting the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) be the standards-setter for the world, given its recent capitulation to pressure from European Union authorities to loosen fair-value accounting for banks.” Stay tuned…