The convergence level of the brazilian and american accounting principles with IASB standards: a contribution to brazilian companies' adoption of IFRS

Abstract

This study aimed to assess the extent to which accounting information disclosed in the Brazilian and North American markets meet the requirements for the initial adoption of IFRS - International Financial Reporting Standards. The Brazilian Securities Commission (CVM) required the adoption of IFRS by Brazilian companies in CVM Instruction 457/07. Through a descriptive study about their goals and using the technical procedures of information retrieval and classical content analysis, we analyzed the financial statements prepared for the year 2008 in accordance with U.S. GAAP and B.R. GAAP of 20 Brazilian companies listed both on the Stock Exchange of New York (NYSE) and the Bolsa de Valores de Sao Paulo (BOVESPA), and calculated the rate of disclosure proposed in the study by Lopes and Rodrigues (2007). The research pointed out that the rates of disclosure calculated for Form 20F were higher than those calculated for the Standard Financial Statements (DFP), confirming a higher degree of convergence between U.S. GAAP and IFRS and suggesting that, due to IFRS adoption, financial statements in BR GAAP tend to change substantially, increasing the level of disclosure. Furthermore, for the sample, the results confirm what was presented in the selected literature about the direct influence of market sector and firm size on information disclosure. For auditors, the fact that global audit companies known as the Big Four audited the statement did not determine the extent of disclosure.