IFRS Adoption in the E.U., Accounting Harmonisation and Market Efficiency: A Review

As of 1st January 2005 all European listed companies had to adopt IAS/IFRS in order to prepare their consolidated financial statements. Half a decade later, the paper analyzes the advancements in the accounting harmonization process within European countries and between E.U. and the rest of the world, over-viewing the first available evidence on the effects on financial markets efficiency. The paper aims at providing an updated description of the process of IFRS adoption in the E.U., pointing out the positive aspects and the main drawbacks and reviews the major contribution provided by the literature during the last years on this subject