Standard-setters from both sides of the pond have defended progress made on convergence to International Financial Reporting Standards and have said changes will be pushed ahead by early 2011. Bob Herz, chairman of the US Financial Accounting Standards Board, told an audience at the annual Meet the Experts conference hosted by PricewaterhouseCoopers that: 'The attitude in the US is that we want to get to the goal, but people don't want to rush it. I have travelled the world and know that isn't a very realistic way of looking at it, but we have more opportunity now to help shape it [IFRS]. 'I know a lot of people try and point us a little bit into a corner,' he said. Last month, newly appointed chief accountant of the US regulator the Securities and Exchange Commission James Kroeker, reiterated that the roadmap towards US convergence towards IFRS was to be a 'priority', and Herz told the conference the commission will be refocusing on this 'next fall'. The 2011 deadline for proposed changes to take place has been suggested by standard-setters so that countries including Canada and Argentina, which hope to enter the IFRS arena that year, aren't subject to another set of accounting changes straight away. The deadline has been seen as optimistic by some in the sector, but Stephen Cooper, member of the board of the IASB, told Accountancy that for many parts of the project, the goal is a 'very realistic' one. Speaking about one of the hottest accounting topics this year - fair value - Herz told the conference that 'the real issue' to the US is where and how to put fair value in financial statements. Roundtables held in London and the US showed 'complete polar opposites', Herz said. Whereas London held 'very little appetite' for fair value, the US roundtables - possibly due to more investor presence -had more inclination for fair value, he added. 'These are the joys of being a standard-setter in an international environment,' he said. Cooper, speaking from a podium across the stage to Herz, told the conference to 'watch this space for IAS 39; it's going to happen very quickly'.