The accounting watchdog's chief has called the lack of success of the International Accounting Standards Board in relation to its convergence program with the US Financial Accounting Standards Board, a 'failure'.

'It does represent a failure to an extent,' Stephen Haddrill said of the 10-year effort which has just come to an end without the intended convergence to the end of a single global set of accounting standards being achieved.

Haddrill was speaking at the Financial Reporting Outlook Conference at Westminster's Park Plaza Hotel yesterday, hosted by Ernst & Young.

For the last decade, the IASB upheld a special bilateral arrangement with the US standard-setter in the hope that the regulator of the largest capital market would streamline its standards and work with the IASB so that listed companies and multi-nationals would only need to finally apply International Financial Reporting Standards.

Although the US jumped through major hoops, such as permitting companies listed there to adopt IFRS, full convergence has not been achieved - with a new focus now on improving both US GAAP and IFRS with a view to eliminating the differences between the two sets of standards.

'We still do want the US to be engaged - it is the largest capital market. But maybe a little less of US influence wouldn't be such a bad idea,' he said.

The chief executive's comments were followed by similar sentiment's from E&Y's global leader for IFRS services, Ruth Picker.

'Many in Europe are fed up with the convergence programme with the Americans, and with the US now apparently walking away. Many in the rest of the world also think it's right now that convergence is dead. There's global support for working with the FASB as one of several constituents as opposed to a unique bilateral arrangement,' said Picker.