The International Valuation Standards Council (IVSC) and The Appraisal Foundation have announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) aimed at eliminating remaining differences between the IVSC’s International Valuation Standards (IVSs) and the Foundation’s Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP).
Compliance with USPAP is required by federal and state law for many types of valuation in the United States.
The MoU updates a 2006 agreement between the two organizations to cooperate on their standard-setting activities. This has resulted in considerable convergence between USPAP and the IVSs, with only a few differences remaining.
“The long history of cooperation between the IVSC and The Appraisal Foundation has brought the current IVSs and USPAP closer together,” said Sir David Tweedie, chairman of the IVSC board of trustees. “This new MoU builds on that relationship and identifies a specific pathway to reach a situation where a valuation prepared under USPAP will also be compliant with the international standards. Establishing a globally accepted set of valuation standards will create greater consistency in the way valuations are presented and understood around the world. Bringing USPAP and the IVSs together will be a significant step towards achieving this goal.”
Under the MoU, the organizations agree that although USPAP will need to retain provisions that are specific to the requirements of the legal and market environment in the United States, the core principles in the two sets of standards should be the same.
“The IVSC has been a long-time trusted partner of The Appraisal Foundation, and the collaboration between our organizations to unify our standards will bring greater consistency to the appraisal process around the world,” The Appraisal Foundation President David Bunton said.