The International Federation of Accountants provided highlights of its 34th Ordinary Council Meeting in Berlin. As part of the meeting, IFAC held its annual seminar, which this year focused on 'Accounting for Crisis: Public and Private Sector Perspectives'.
The seminar featured high-profile speakers from organisations including the World Bank, EUROSTAT, the European Court of Auditors, the New Zealand Treasury, and the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy. The sovereign debt crisis was the focus of the seminar, with discussions held also on financial management for natural disasters, and public sector accounting.
Ian Ball, chief executive officer of IFAC, reminded the audience that, as early as 2007, IFAC stated that it “is concerned that the standards and regulations governing sovereign issuers are not of sufficient quality to protect investors and ensure the stability of capital markets”.
Speakers focused on government accountability to the financial markets; the need for a common language for fairly describing and assessing the fiscal position of a public entity; the potential of sovereign securities being targets of market abuse, such as insider trading and market manipulation; and the fact that developed countries—not just developing countries—need to make changes.
IFAC is planning a follow-up seminar—'The Sovereign Debt Crisis, a Matter of Urgency―from Lessons to Reform'—March 19-20, 2012, in Vienna, Austria. The seminar so far has 14 confirmed speakers, including: Vincenzo LaVia, World Bank Group; Göran Persson, Former Prime Minister of Sweden; James Turley, Ernst & Young; Nicolas Véron, Peterson Institute for International Economics; and Hon David Walker, Comeback America Initiative and Former Comptroller General of the US.
Press release
© IFAC
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