Media Contacts: In São Paulo - Denise Marinho
Mobile: (55 61) 9911 1971 Email: dmarinho@worldbank.org
Ruth Gonzalez Llamas Mobile: (55 61) 9911 1971 Email:rgonzalez2@worldbank.org SÃO PAULO, September 25, 2009 - The recent global financial crisis provides many lessons so far, the most important is the urgent need to tackle the global reform of financial regulation Latin American finance and accounting experts agreed at the third annual conference CReCER 2009. On Thursday, at the end of the second day session of the Conference, Pedro Malan, Trustee of the International Accounting Standards Committee Foundation (IASCF) and former Brazilian Finance Minister, stated that restoring confidence in the markets will depend on the ability to respond at different levels. “The global crisis has raised to the highest political level discussion topics which were previously only dealt with in the field of financial regulators. This certainly challenges our ability to respond to the crisis," Malan said. The trustee of the IASCF said that there is sense of urgency requiring financial regulators to work jointly aiming to facilitate the mobilization and engagement of an international capacity to have consolidated standards. "It's about setting appropriate standards on the one hand, and on the other, ensuring the capacity to implement them. The financial crisis will be overcome, but it would be unfortunate if overcoming this crisis results in levels of complacency in the system. We must work toward setting a global financial rules standard for the regulation", Malan added. Corporate Governance - Ana Maria Elorrieta, President of the Institute of Independent Auditors of Brazil (IBRACON) summarized the main issues addressed in the second day of sessions at the conference. She highlighted the discussions about the importance of corporate governance and the need for independent boards and committees to add value to financial regulation. Elorrieta also noted that another major focus of discussion was state-owned companies and concluded mentioning that the conference has prompted a serious discussion about accountant and auditor profession that, in the context of the global crisis, faces a great responsibility to contribute to economy recovery. Accounting for Growth in Latin America and the Caribbean: Improving Corporate Financial Reporting to Support Regional Economic Development” The third annual conference CReCER was the appropriate set for the launch of the book “Accounting for Growth in Latin America and the Caribbean: Improving Corporate Financial Reporting to Support Regional Economic Development” by Henri Fortin, World Bank Senior Financial Management Specialist, Ana Cristina Hirata Barros, World Bank Consultant, and Kit Cutler, World Bank Junior Professional Associate.
The study shows that, although the significant progress made by Latin America and the Caribbean countries in macroeconomic areas, they still can improve their financial information systems regarding private business. This improvement may be based on three key pillars: establishing appropriate requirements, building capacity to implement the rules and creating a system to ensure compliance.
The book also highlights that financial reporting is a key part of the development agenda for the Latin America and the Caribbean region. Strengthening accounting, auditing and financial reporting practices is pivotal to promote a sustainable and equitable growth led by the private sector-led, and to strengthen governance and accountability. CReCER (the acronym in Spanish stands for Accounting and Accountability for Regional Economic Growth) is a joint organization of the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC), in partnership with the Brazilian Federal Council of Accountants (CFC). For more information about CReCER 2009, please visit www.creceramericas.org |
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