Evidence of the Long-term Influence of Local Regulations as a Challenge to the International Harmonization of Financial Reporting

Abstract:

The financial reporting by the listed entities in Portugal, based on international accounting standards (NIC, in the Portuguese acronym), is still influenced by the terms and expressions from the Official Accounting Plan (POC, in the Portuguese acronym), the standard that was in force until 2009 (2004, for the listed entities), regardless of the activity sector. Thus, potential long-term effects of the previous local regulations on the financial reporting of these entities are identified, which is an element that can be presented as a challenge to a de facto harmonisation. The proposed analysis is expected to attract the attention of financial reporting standard setters and regulators to the potential constraints associated with the international harmonization of financial reporting, namely the specific environment of each jurisdiction where the International Accounting Standards (IAS) and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) have been applied.