TABLE OF CONTENTS A new International Accounting Standards Board was appointed early in 2001 with the stated purpose of producing coordinated accounting standards within a few years. The hope is that several major accounting standards will be agreed upon within three years and will be accepted by accounting regulators in leading countries. Coordinated accounting standards will make it easier for lenders and investors to compare companies in different countries because such standards would put more responsibility on the "Big" international accounting firms that audit most companies around the world. The Big Four would have to determine not just whether the accounting met specific rules, but whether it complied with a principle. [1]
International accounting has long been troubled by conflicting rules in different countries, with some U.S. regulators believing that American standards are consummate vis- -vis international standards that offer ways for companies to avoid rigorous auditing standards. "The Securities and Exchange Commission turned away efforts to allow major foreign companies to sell securities in the United States without adapting their accounting to American standards." [2] But as pressure grew for international standards, the U.S. position evolved to a less stringent level, which is that coordinated efforts to develop adept accounting standards will gain wide acceptance. A big improvement over past practices, the whole issue of accounting standards has raised great concern especially during periods of unrest in the financial markets, and certainly because of the Enron and WorldCom mess, to name a few. From the standpoint of bankers, the issue is equally important because comparative, rigorous auditing standards mean better measuring tools to evaluate individual deals along with the general...
