The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) voted to begin a process 'that could lead to the use of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) by US issuers beginning in 2014,' the regulator said in a statement.

The SEC said it would decide in 2011 'on whether adoption of IFRS is in the public interest and would benefit investors.' US companies currently use US Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP).

In November, the SEC authorised the reporting of financial results using IFRS, but that decision was aimed mainly at foreign companies in the United States.

'The increasing integration of the world's capital markets, which has resulted in two-thirds of US investors owning securities issued by foreign companies that report their financial information using IFRS, has made the establishment of a single set of high-quality accounting standards a matter of growing importance,' the SEC said.

The IFRS standards are used in more than 100 countries, including Japan, China, Canada and the 27-nation European Union. About 85 of those countries require IFRS reporting for all domestic, listed companies, the regulator noted. -- AFP