In 2008, the SEC began to consider allowing U.S. companies to use international accounting rules developed by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) instead of GAAP rules when preparing and fi ling their financial reports. The International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) would provide consistency for global financial reporting, but because this would be a fundamental change in the way financial reports are prepared, any final changes would take place over an extended period of time.