What exactly is convergence?

From its inception in 1973, the former International Accounting Standards Committee (IASC) worked towards harmonising global accounting standards by developing standards that could serve as a model on which national standard setters could base their own standards. The IASC was replaced by the International Accounting Standards Board effective in 2001. Its mission became one of convergence of global accounting standards – development of a single set of high quality, understandable and enforceable global accounting standards that require high quality, transparent, and comparable information in financial statements and other financial reporting to help participants in the world's capital markets and other users make economic decisions. This paper examines the ways of achieving such convergence.