By Agency Reporter

Tuesday, 1 Feb 2011

The adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards has been identified as an important component in the quest to attract foreign investors and boost economic performance.

Speaking at a workshop organised by Baker Tilly Nigeria for auditors on the challenges of IFRS adoption in Lagos, a council member of the Nigerian Accounting Standards Board, Mr. Titus Soetan, said the IFRS would attract foreign investors to the economy.

Other benefits of adopting IFRS, he said, were: reduced cost of financial reporting for global comparison, assurance of easier access to external capital for local and domestic companies, and easier regulations of financial information of entities in Nigeria.

Soetan, who is also the Principal Partner of Baker Tilly, however, said that the benefits of IFRS could not be fully realised without proper education of auditors, company executives and other parties in the preparation of financial reports.

Addressing the participants, the Chief Executive Officer, NASB, Mr. Jim Obazee, warned corporate bodies to be proactive in the acquisition of the necessary tools that would facilitate seamless application of IFRS.

He also challenged financial regulators to collaborate in order to provide the necessary frameworks for adoption.

Another facilitator at the workshop, Mr. Bill Telford, said the comprehensive nature of IFRS would enable it to cover areas that were not yet addressed by local standards, while the fact that they were principle-based would take care of local peculiarities.

Source: Punch