Nicolas Sarkozy ruffled a few feathers with his Davos speech, not least those of the Chinese, who didn't entirely appreciate his references to 'monetary dumping'. (Forbes was not overly impressed by the speech either).
In his broad-ranging speech, Sarkozy called for, amongst other things, a WTO-esque World Environment Organisation and a new Bretton Woods pact. Importantly for us at ACCA, he warned that financial reforms were vital and that governments and regulators would be 'taking an unforgiveable risk with the future' if accounting rules weren't changed.
Accounting rules do need changing and it's a positive thing that Sarkozy is paying attention to the issue. However, as I mentioned in my previous post, Davos is a lot of talk and not a lot of action; despite Sarkozy's hand-waving, it's unlikely that anything will actually happen as a result.
Look at IFRS convergence, for example - an important accounting standards change that has been banging its head against EU/US ambivalence since the end of last year. Sarkozy's calls were presented with neither a timetable nor support.
As Timothy Garton-Ash notes in the Gray Lady, Sarkozy probably had half an eye on domestic matters. Six weeks out from regional elections, playing the grand oratorical statesman and knocking the US dollar as the world's reserve currency won't do him much harm in the polls.
In June 2009, ACCA produced a paper on the future of financial regulation, cunningly titled The Future of Financial Regulation. This paper (and its November update, the even more cunningly titled The Future of Financial Regulation: An Update) sets out the changes we need in the accountancy profession and its regulation. These recommendations include giving increased prominence to internal audit, the separation of retail from wholesale banking, and the ending of 'too big to fail' banking.
The experts have done the talking and the thinking months ago; politicians are now retreading old ground in their speeches. What we need from world leaders now is action.
In his broad-ranging speech, Sarkozy called for, amongst other things, a WTO-esque World Environment Organisation and a new Bretton Woods pact. Importantly for us at ACCA, he warned that financial reforms were vital and that governments and regulators would be 'taking an unforgiveable risk with the future' if accounting rules weren't changed.
Accounting rules do need changing and it's a positive thing that Sarkozy is paying attention to the issue. However, as I mentioned in my previous post, Davos is a lot of talk and not a lot of action; despite Sarkozy's hand-waving, it's unlikely that anything will actually happen as a result.
Look at IFRS convergence, for example - an important accounting standards change that has been banging its head against EU/US ambivalence since the end of last year. Sarkozy's calls were presented with neither a timetable nor support.
As Timothy Garton-Ash notes in the Gray Lady, Sarkozy probably had half an eye on domestic matters. Six weeks out from regional elections, playing the grand oratorical statesman and knocking the US dollar as the world's reserve currency won't do him much harm in the polls.
In June 2009, ACCA produced a paper on the future of financial regulation, cunningly titled The Future of Financial Regulation. This paper (and its November update, the even more cunningly titled The Future of Financial Regulation: An Update) sets out the changes we need in the accountancy profession and its regulation. These recommendations include giving increased prominence to internal audit, the separation of retail from wholesale banking, and the ending of 'too big to fail' banking.
The experts have done the talking and the thinking months ago; politicians are now retreading old ground in their speeches. What we need from world leaders now is action.
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