Before 1987, the standards produced by the IASC were basic principles, prohibiting
what they deemed to be unacceptable accounting practices, while allowing several
acceptable options. At the time, this flexibility was necessary in order to be
compatible with the majority of practices in the founder members’ home countries
(Camfferman and Zeff 2007, p. 10). Yet, in order for the standards to attain the status
they hold today, there were three key events that reduced the flexibility and improved
the perception of the organisation: the stock market crash in 1987, the International
Organization of Securities and Commissions (IOSCO) agreement in 1995, and the
IASC’s constitutional reform in 2001 (Godfrey and Langfield-Smith 2005). These
events generated opportunities for external parties to influence both the structure of
the organisation as well as its standards. Influential parties included the IOSCO, the
Group of 4 (G4), the U.S. Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB), and the
SEC.