The International Organization of Securities Commissions says it is establishing arrangements for regulators to share decisions on the application of the International Financial Reporting Standards.

A system will be established for participating IOSCO members and other independent enforcement organizations to share information and consult in order to maximize co-ordination and convergence. While each national regulator will retain the right to deal with an issue in its own right, the system will facilitate consistency, IOSCO says.

The chairman of the IOSCO Technical Committee, Michel Prada, said “Given the importance of having convergent application of financial reporting requirements, it is vital to have an appropriate mechanism to share information among authorities that will promote consistency in the implementation of IFRS”.

IOSCO says it will assist participating regulators in cataloguing in a database, decisions made by regulators concerning application of IFRS. This will provide a reference source for input to future regulatory decisions. Participating regulators will also contact each other to discuss particular decisions.

On an ongoing basis, IOSCO will monitor issues related to the implementation of IFRS for indicators of issues that should be referred to the International Accounting Standards Board or the International Financial Reporting Interpretations Committee for consideration.

IOSCO anticipates that the database will be operational by the second half of 2006. The catalogue of decisions will not be publicly accessible.