Much is right about international financial reporting.

One reason for

this success is that financial statements and related disclosures
capture and organize financial information in a useful and reliable
fashion. However, much still needs to be done. Here are some of the
major challenges.

IFRS in a Political Environment

User groups are possibly the most powerful force influencing the
development of IFRS. User groups consist of those most interested
in or affected by accounting rules. Various participants in the financial
reporting environment may want particular economic events
accounted for or reported in a particular way, and they fight hard to
get what they want. They know that the most effective way to
influence IFRS is to participate in the formulation of these rules or to
try to influence or persuade the formulators of them.6
These user groups often target the IASB, to pressure it to change the
existing rules and develop new ones. In fact, these pressures have
been multiplying. Some influential groups demand that the
accounting profession act more quickly and decisively to solve its
problems. Other groups resist such action, preferring to implement
change more slowly, if at all. Illustration 1.6 shows the various user
groups that apply pressure.

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