Johannesburg — THE call to suspend mark-to-market accounting in the US in light of the subprime crisis may not be necessary, say accounting analysts.

Now more than ever, the rest of the world should stand up and demand that the US speed up its plans to join the international party regarding the implementation of international financial reporting standards , said Kevin Frohbus of Mazars Moores Rowland.

"If anyone is not yet convinced, it is worth remembering that Enron applauded and applied the use of mark-to-market accounting in order to recognise significant unrealised gains on its balance sheet in the months and years up to its demise only a few years ago."

As the US financial crisis intensified over the past week, it was only a matter of time before there were calls to abandon or amend the fundamental accounting principles applied by many companies in their financial statements.

Buried within the furore that has gripped Wall Street and other markets around the world, a request was submitted to suspend the practice of mark-to-market accounting rules for mortgage-related assets.

Mark-to-market accounting is the principle of recording financial assets or liabilities at their fair market or quoted value on a company's balance sheet, thereby recording the financial gains or losses on the instrument, often before the asset or liability is realised.

Frohbus said that the call to suspend mark-to-market account was made to the US Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) because the use of the methodology was not always appropriate in an illiquid market.

It was only last month that the SEC approved a proposed road map for conversion to international financial reporting standards.

The decision by the SEC follows an announcement last year that foreign companies could prepare their financial statements in terms of international financial reporting standards without the need to provide a reconciliation to US Generally Accepted Accounting Principles.