Monday, August 09, 2004

The New York Times > Financial Times > International Accounting Reform is on the way :)

The New York Times > Financial Times > Business > Hand that guides EU accounting reform


The New York Times > Financial Times > Business > Hand that guides EU accounting reform: "More than 7,000 listed companies in the EU will use international accounting standards, in what will be the biggest accounting reform in Europe for a generation"


John Tiner, the chairman of the Committee of European Securities Regulators' financial reporting group is interviewed in the Financial Times today. He is the regulator in charge of helping to guide EU members' accounting regulation.

Short version: some reform and standardization are on the horizon, but not complete standardization. As anyone who has ever looked over international financial statements will vouch, more standardization is necessary! Standardized accounting systems will increase transparency, lower transaction costs, and allow international investing to increase. While this it is not the end of the story, but it is a step in the right direction!


A few highlites from article:

* "Mr Tiner's CESR group is focused on how to ensure the 25 EU countries have strong enforcement bodies that can spot and correct accounting abuses"

* "The biggest challenge is how to prevent the emergence of 25 versions of international accounting standards. This could happen if the bodies make significantly different interpretations of the 36 international standards"

* "Mr Tiner does not rule out the possibility of a pan-European enforcement body emerging"


Source:
http://www.nytimes.com/financialtimes/business/FT20040808_13220_64359.html


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