How could I respond or add on to the below discussion board?

a. What is the International Accounting Standards Board?

IASB is an independent group of accounting professionals that are tasked with setting standards for the accounting profession. Public companies in many different countries use these standards, which provide comparability, transparency and consistency. It is interesting to note that United States and China both have their own accounting standards to follow.

b. What stakeholders might benefit from the use of International Accounting Standards?

I see the biggest benefit would be to the company itself, because it could appeal to international investors and creditors by providing financial statements that were easier to understand and compare. Similarly, investors and creditors could confidently chose which company to do business with, because of the transparency that IFRS provides.

c. What do you believe are some of the major obstacles to convergence?

The question is 'who gives' -the IASB, U.S. or China? Apparently, convergence has been in the works for decades, and while some discrepancies have been resolved, others are still an issue. Again, it seems that the two countries of the world that have been fighting over economic power and dominance, both want to keep their own accounting standards intact. I don't know much about China's accounting standards, but I think one of the answers here is Politics. The public companies in the U.S. must follow the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, which was was a political move to regulate the practices of large companies, maintain investor confidence in the market and the information presented, and present financial information in a standardized/reliable format. Following its own standards, the U.S. has flexibility in changing them if needed (which would be more difficult to do in with international board). Being consistent with the same standards over the years, there is great benefit in showing year-over-year financials without having to converge accounting procedures. From that view alone, I think that changing over to new standards would be costly and confusing.