Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen.
Before I start I would just like to say what a privilege and a pleasure it is for me to be able to participate on this panel. I wish to focus my comments on the work of the IFAC Small and Medium Practices (SMP) Committee that I chair in helping meet the needs of SMPs in this region.
Let me first articulate what my committee suspects are the main issues confronting SMPs in Latin America and the Caribbean.
First, the issue of the relevance of international standards of accounting, assurance, education and ethics to SME/SMP. Some believe these standards are written primarily with large entities in mind resulting in over-regulation of SME/SMP. For example, we fear new auditing standards may undermine the viability of SME audits and SMPs.
Secondly there is the issue of the capacity of SMP/SME to efficiently implement, and comply with, these standards. Small practitioners lack specialist in-house resources and suffer from professional isolation.
Thirdly SMPs are faced with acute problems - increasing competitive pressures, a decreasing amount of staple regulatory work, and operational problems such as staff recruitment and retention and effective networking.