International Accounting and Reporting Issues: 2004 Review - Unctad

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FOREWORD For over two decades, the United Nations has been contributing to the global debate on corporate transparency and disclosure issues through the Intergovernmental Working Group of Experts on International Standards of Accounting and Reporting (ISAR), which is serviced by UNCTAD. The twenty-first session of ISAR, which was held in Geneva from 27 to 29 October 2004, was its first session since UNCTAD XI, which took place in São Paulo, Brazil, in June 2004. The outcomes of UNCTAD XI - namely, the Spirit of São Paulo and the São Paulo Consensus – emphasized the need for greater coherence between international processes on the one hand and the development strategies and policies of developing countries on the other hand. In particular, they stressed the central role of investment and the need to create an enabling environment for the facilitation of sustained investment flows to developing countries and countries with economies in transition and for deriving greater benefits from those investments. Accounting and reporting constitute a fundamental part of such an environment because sound and high-quality corporate reporting is essential for attracting and protecting investors, managing risks and returns and reducing financial volatility, enhancing accountability and ultimately enabling efficient allocation and use of economic resources. Over the last two decades, we have witnessed a continuous trend towards the global harmonization of accounting and auditing standards, including those in the area of education and qualifications for professional accountants. The increasing pace of globalization of the world economy and the internationalization of investment flows have no doubt contributed to this process. There is a growing consensus that the application of a common set of global standards on corporate reporting will contribute to the reliability and comparability of financial information across markets and will facilitate international investment flows. Given the growing complexity of business operations and the unfortunate series of corporate collapses that dominated the headlines in the last couple of years, the call for more reliable and relevant corporate reporting has never been louder. In recent years, financial, environmental and social scandals have raised the public's awareness of the fact that not all enterprises are willing or able to contribute positively to society's sustainable goals. At the 1999 World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, the United Nations Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, argued that economic globalization was at risk unless companies and other organs of society committed themselves to universal principles regarding human and labour rights, environmental protection and the rule of law. This commitment came to be embodied in the United Nations Global Compact and it provides a useful framework for the integration of ISAR's work on corporate transparency with the new mandate of UNCTAD in the area of corporate responsibility. iii
This volume presents the deliberations of the twenty-first session of ISAR. It addresses the comparability and relevance of existing indicators on corporate social responsibility reporting. It also discusses the implementation status of corporate governance disclosures. Contained in this volume are also studies and articles on the practical implementation challenges of international accounting and auditing standards. Given the growing interest in corporate governance and transparency among policy makers, standard-setters, educators and the general public, I am confident that many readers will find this publication to be a useful source of timely information. Carlos Fortin Officer-in-Charge of UNCTAD Geneva, December 2004 iv
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Table 2 Selected company rankings b
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IV. THE ROLE OF CORPORATE GOVERNANC
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51 Chapter III A full and balanced
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ACRONYMS A&A Accounting and Auditin
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55 Chapter III discussions and init
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57 Chapter III regulatory backing,
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Accounting Standards: Illustrations
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61 Chapter III body limited to sett
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63 Chapter III At this juncture, it
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J. Mismatch between accounting and
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67 Chapter III • maintain appropr
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APPENDIX: Overview of the Accountin
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Comparability of National and Inter
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Progress in Assessments 73 Chapter
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International Accounting and Report
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CHAPTER V CORPORATE DISCLOSURES: SE
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111 Chapter V corporate governance
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The present preliminary Act that mo
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SEC or SET requirement 131 Chapter
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Further problems 137 Chapter V need
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International Accounting and Reporting Issues: 2004 Review - Unctad

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