07.15.2010 

 

The World Bank has issued the latest edition of its comprehensive publication on the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) into the Nigerian market as Nigerian companies and regulators move toward convergence on the IFRS.

 

The 344-page publication aptly titled: International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), Fifth Edition, A Practical Guide, was bundled-printed in September 2009. It coincided with the convergence in accounting standards that has been a feature of the international landscape since the global financial crisis of 1998.

 

The Managing Director, Tessy-Biz Ventures, Nigeria’s World Bank publication representative, Mr Uche Onwudinjo, told journalists yesterday in Lagos that his company decided on the IFRS publication in the country because of its global relevance and particularly its importance to the current changes in the Nigerian economy.

 

He said the release of the book, which has been described as the ultimate guide on IFRS into the Nigerian market at a time that Nigerian financial services regulators and companies are working on full convergence to IFRS would broaden the perspectives of understanding of the new applications.

 

He noted that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the Securities and Exchange Commission (Sec) and the Nigerian Accounting Standards Board (NASB) have already commenced the process of full convergence on the IFRS in line with global direction of accounting practices. Onwudinjo said his company has made adequate arrangements to ensure that the publication is widely available in Nigeria.    

 

The Vice President and Treasurer, World Bank, Kenneth Lay, in his foreword to the book noted that the rush toward convergence has continued to produce a steady stream of revisions to accounting standards by both the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) and the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB).

 

He said the latest edition of the IFRS guide provides a non-technical, yet comprehensive, managerial overview of the underlying materials.“The appearance of the fifth edition of this book—already translated into 15 languages in its earlier editions—is therefore timely,” Lay said.

 

He noted that the simple yet comprehensive approach of the book would not only help to further clarify the material, but it would provide practitioners with a handy reference while also relieving non-specialists the tension that new rules usually generated. According to him, the book should also assist national regulators in comparing IFRS to country-specific practices, thereby encouraging even wider local adoption of these already broadly accepted international standards.

 

(Source:ThisDay)