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Abstract
This paper presents a personal overview of the teaching of IFRS in a developing code law country, Brazil. It relates to teaching of undergraduates, MBA, MSc and executive students. The paper focus on the challenge to introduce IFRS concepts to a audience used to use accounting reports for tax purposes and not to inform external investors.
Notes
This paper is based on lecture given at the IASC Foundation and IAAER co-bannered session for IFRS Teachers, Trainers and Researchers which took place in 12 June, 2009 in São Paulo, Brazil.
Commissioner at the Securities and Exchange Commission of Brazil, Professor of Accounting at the University of São Paulo and member of the IFRS Advisory Council and of the Education Advisory Group of the IASB. Opinions expressed in this paper do not represent official positions of the Securities and Exchange Commission of Brazil but solely the personal views of the author.
I consider informativeness as a feature related to the reflection of underlying economic reality on accounting figures. Special attention is given to the degree upon which accounting earnings reflect changes in the economic value of firms. Earnings are considered to be informative if they properly reflect changes in the value of corporations to which they are related.
The Brazilian Securities and Exchange Commission (CVM) usually sponsored consultative meetings with the Brazilian Institute of Auditors (Ibracon) and members of academia. However, results from these meetings do not have legal standing over what was prescribed by the Law.
Brazilian academic accountants developed in this period a very sophisticated method to account for inflation in financial statements which later became mandatory. This method was used for financial accounting and tax purposes and it stopped being used in 1995.
Brazil was the world's largest ADR issuer. See http://www.adr.com
Individual financial statements are required by the Brazilian law and are the basis for tax, dividends and most covenants decisions.
These were the questions I normally received.
I also participated as an observer at meetings of the Brazilian Accountings Standards Board (CPC) and I could see some of the reactions to the new rules being passed.