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Introduction accounting standards
Introduction accounting standards
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Introduction The financial regulatory framework in UK is called GAAP or General Accounting Accepted Practice and is the body responsible for the rules and regulation that companies within the UK must follow when reporting financial information. There are three main sources of rules governing accounting regulation in UK namely: the companies’ act 2006, (which incorporated EU accounting directives), UK accounting standards (FRSs and SSAPs) and London Exchange Company listing (International Accounting Standards). Recently, the FRC (Financial Reporting Council) issued a new directive which will require (except the small companies, which can use FRRSE) to report in accordance with FRSI or IFRS by the end of 2015. There has been much debate over the advantages and disadvantages of the regulation of financial reporting. The central argument put forward by proponents of regulation of financial reporting is that a lack of regulation of the market results in severe market failure and regulation mitigates the chance of such failure. On the other hand, proponents of the free-market approach argue that the private incentives for self-regulation and production of credible financial reports are such that regulation is unnecessary and often worsens market collapses- the opposite of its intended purpose. This paper will argue that whilst regulation is necessary to mitigate market failure and serve the public interest, it is important to consider that regulation has in some cases caused financial crises. The global economic crisis has “ignited worldwide debate on the issues of systemic risk and the role played by financial regulation in creating and exacerbating the crisis” (Bushman and Landsman 2010: 259). The first part of the paper introduces a... ... middle of paper ... ...ulating corporate reporting. a critical review of arguments. ‘Accounting and Business Research’, Vol. 40. , pp. 275-77. 3. Menassa, E, 2010. the case for accounting regulation. a theoretical approach, 1, 107. 4. Ward, C. D, 2013. Financial Accounting and Reporting. An International Approach, 1, 2 a 5. 2013. . [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.accaglobal.co.uk/content/dam/acca/global/PDF-technical/financial-reporting/tech-tp-fofr3.pdf. [Accessed 07 December 2013]. 6 .Financial reporting J. Haslam and D. Chow AC3091, 2790091 http://www.londoninternational.ac.uk/sites/default/files/programme_resources/lse/lse_pdfubjet_guides/ac3091_ch1-3.pdf/s. 7 . 2013. . [ONLINE] Available at: http://financial.kaplan.co.uk/Documents/ICAEW/Financial_Accounting_Chapter_1.pdf. [Accessed 07 December 2013]. 8 KAPLAN, Kaplan, 2012. ACCA PAPER 7. 2nd ed. uk: KAPLAN PUBLISHING. PAGE 36
In addition, the Federal Reserve did badly on supervision of the financial market. Many banks did not have enough ability to value their risk. The Federal Reserve and other supervision institution should require these banks to enhance their ability of risk valuing.
Dodd-Frank and Sarbanes-Oxley Acts are important legislations in the corporate world because of their link to public and privately held companies. Sarbanes-Oxley Act was enacted to enhance transparency and accountability in publicly traded companies. On the contrary, Dodd-Frank Act was enacted to disentangle the confused web of financial service company valuations. Actually, these valuations are usually hidden by complex and unclear financial instruments. The introduction of Sarbanes-Oxley Act was fueled by recent incidents of accounting frauds by top executives of major corporations such as Enron. In contrast, Dodd-Frank Act was enacted as a response to the tendency by banks, insurance companies, hedge funds, rating agencies, and accounting companies to serve up harmful offer of ruined assets and liabilities brought by systemic non-disclosure (Anand, 2011, p.1). While these regulations have some similarities and differences, they have a strong relationship with the financial markets.
A possible flaw of Sarbanes-Oxley is it failed to put up any resistance in thwarting the financial crisis. While the degree to which fraudulent behavior can be traced to the roots of the Great Panic of 2007 will likely be up for eternal debate, it might be telling that Sarbanes-Oxley effectively did nothing. It seems this could indicate that stronger incentives for whistleblowers (such as Dodd-Frank and perhaps other whistleblower protection regimes) are very necessary given the extreme social costs. This conclusion may be hasty, however, given the short time period between the enactment of Sarbanes-Oxley and the crash. Not only is the status of Sarbanes-Oxley still in flux over a decade later, but one has to consider the substantial learning and switching costs associated with a regime with such a substantial ruach. Certainly, this is not to say that additional protections may in fact be necessary given the putative reluctance of lawyers to report fraud, but Sarbanes-Oxley likely needed more time to really crystalize and provide some level of predictability before it can be declared a bust.
The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act’s policies haven’t really been implemented to the extent that regulators would have liked. Although the legislation takes many steps in addressing systematic risks in the United States financial system and improving coordination among regulators, some critics believe that alternative options might have been more effective. The coming years will give us a better understanding of how well the Dodd-Frank Act addressed these concerns.
According to the conceptual framework, the potential users of financial statements are investors, creditors, suppliers, employees, customers, governments and agencies, and the general public (Financial Accounting Standards Board, 2006). The primary users are investors, creditors, and those who advise them. It goes on to define the criteria that make up each potential user, as well as, the limitations of financial reporting. The FASB explicitly states that financial reporting is “but one source of information needed by those who make investment, credit, and similar resource allocation decisions. Users also need to consider pertinent information from other sources, and be aware of the characteristics and limitations of the information in them” (Financial Accounting Standards Board, 2006). With this in mind, it is still particularly difficult to determine whom the financials should be catered towards and what level of prudence is necessary for quality judgment.
Olusegun Wallace, R. 1996. The Development of Accounting Research in the UK. In: Cooke, T. and Nobes, C. eds. 1997. The Development of Accounting in an International Context. London: Routledge, pp. 218-254.
In the world of international finance there are two major accounting systems; GAAP, which stands for Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, and IFRS, which stands for International Financial Reporting Standards. The United States prefers GAAP while the European market, as well as many other countries, prefers IFRS. By 2015 the Securities Exchange Commission is anticipating a total transfer to IFRS in the United States. Though the differences between GAAP and IFRS are few, they could affect accuracy of financial reporting throughout the world. It is important to understand the differences and similarities between both GAAP and IFRS if one is to globalize ones market (Logue).
It is extremely hard to just assign blame to one individual party as there are many different factors at work here. This paper will analyze how the stakeholders created a financial disaster and did nothing to prevent it, as the credit rating agencies created an amount of turmoil due to their unethical decisions and costly mistakes. II. Assessing the Housing Crisis In terms of looking at how credit rating agencies affected the market as a whole, they played a role within the mortgage crisis as they gave way to a real estate credit bubble. The mortgage crisis seems to have been caused by the manipulation of the price of credit default swaps....
This shows how a lack of transparency in reporting of financial statements leads to the destruction of a company. This all happened under the watchful eye of an auditor, Arthur Andersen. After this scandal, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act was changed to keep into account the role of the auditors and how they can help in preventing such
In 1934 the Securities Exchange Act created the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) in response to the stock market crash of 1929 and the Great Depression of the 1930s. It was created to protect U.S. investors against malpractice in securities and financial markets. The purpose of the SEC was and still is to carry out the mandates of the Securities Act of 1933: To protect investors and maintain the integrity of the securities market by amending the current laws, creating new laws and seeing to it that those laws are enforced.
The New Zealand (NZ) Framework for Financial Reporting is in the process of changing since 2009, as a result of the review of the statutory reporting requirements in New Zealand by Ministry of Economic Development (MED) and the Accounting Standard Review Board (ASRB). The mainly recommendation was to remove small and medium sized companies from the statutory reporting framework (Ernst & Young, 2013, p.11). This New Zealand Framework for Financial Reporting 2010 (NZ Framework) was issued by the New Zealand Accounting Standards Board of the External Reporting Board (XRB) in 2011. The changes of framework pull open the NZ financial reporting standards that comprise NZ Generally Accepted Accounting Practice (GAAP) setting movement from ‘rule-based’ approach to ‘principle-based’ approach. Then comes to the question: Whether the application of NZ GAAP is supported positively by the NZ Framework with the appropriate underlying principles, or it preserved a largely ‘rule-driven’ approach? From my perspective, NZ Framework provides parts of applicable underlying principles in guidance of NZ GAAP but there are rooms for improvement.
One may be forced to ask if the adoption of a uniform global financial reporting framework (IFRS) would enhance financial performance. Theoretically, IFRS can help to promote excellent firm performance. However, there is as yet no robust empirical evidence that this causal relationship is quantitatively significant. Performance simply means any recognized accomplishment or the achievement of set goals. (IRONKWE, Uwaoma) A company that is performing well is one that is successfully achieving its goals and is efficiently executing suitable strategies. (Nsijilem, S.C, 2015)
Private and public accounting has long been discussed and disputed in regards to financial reporting. Since the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) was created in 1973, accountants have called for different accounting regulations for private and public accounting sectors, as private companies do not have the resources to meet the complex requirements of public companies. Private companies currently are not required by law to issue annual or quarterly financial statements (James, 2012). Private companies do, however, have the option to apply the U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), cash basis, or accrual accounting to their financial statements (James, 2012).
Steverman,B. and Bogoslaw, D. (2008) ‘The financial crisis blame game’, Business week, October [Online]. Available at: http://www.businessweek.com/investor/content/oct2008/pi20081017_950382.htm?chan=top+news_top+news+index+-+temp_top+story (Accessed: 1st August 2010).
The failure of adequate board accountability has indicated strong adverse effects on corporate performance including, the bankruptcy of various public companies, thereby casting serious doubt on the credibility and efficacy of board accountability. For example, Lehman Brothers scandal, the largest bankruptcy in U.S history, Northern Rock was a large failure of a financial institution in the United Kingdom (Hull 2015:16). In Ireland, the Anglo-Irish Bank created a huge bubble that plunged the state into economic recession. In September 28, 2008, the Irish Government signed into law, the “bank guarantee” which provided with immediate effect a guarantee arrangement to safeguard all deposits in retail, commercial, institutional and interbank transactions, covered bonds, senior debt and dated subordinated debt (Lenihan 2008). Banks in Ireland clearly needed yet more capital from the State (Irish Times 19 November 2011) and this underscores the need for the government’s bailout