A July survey of financial executives of US firms showed that more than half were unsure of how a switch to IFRS might impact their firms. Even so, no-one is asking questions--at least not according to the SEC which says that it has received questions and statements of concern over IFRS from "only about 1% of the companies in the United States that would be impacted by this change".

IFRS is not on the front burner for companies because the SEC isn't paying attention to it either.    SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro stated in her confirmation hearings that she wanted to take a deep breath to think about IFRS.  Last month in a letter to Robert Pozen, chairman of the Committee on Improvements to Financial Reporting she wrote:

"We have focused our efforts on matters directly related to the economic crisis, financial regulatory reform, and improvements to the agency's processes and programs, and we expect to continue to do so in the coming months."

Nonetheless, it's been a busy summer for IFRS on other fronts.

A few items of note:

• In mid-July the IASB released new rules dividing financial assets into two categories, as a change from the late 2008 relaxation of rules regarding financial assets.

• Charles Nemeier, erstwhile candidate for Chief Accountant of the SEC and IFRS critic has announced plans to leave the PCAOB.

• Canada is in the midst of making the switch to IFRS.

• Korea is prepping for a switch by 2011, but firms are worried about whether it will be possible to make the switch according to timeline. This may be in part because of claims that the switch to IFRS will "expose firms' hidden weaknesses".

• Accounting firms in India are raising questions over whether as part of the upcoming 2011 shift to IFRS they will have to "recast revenues and expenses of the previous years" as other countries have. There are also calls for senior managers to prepare a year-long detailed roadmap for the shift.

• The UK has released a roadmap with transition to IFRS set for January 1, 2012.

• South Africa is struggling to ensure consistent compliance with IFRS, while bracing for enforcement of a new wave of rule changes from the IASB.

Stay tuned to IFRSreporter.com for more on IFRS in the News.