Introduction
Good morning. I'd like to thank Dr. Kalbers and the Center for Accounting Ethics, Governance & the Public Interest for inviting me here today. I would also like to thank all of you for taking time from your busy schedules to hear what I have to say about restoring integrity to the global financial system, which, I'm sure you will agree, is in dire straits.
Before we get started, I would like to extend a particular welcome to the students in the audience. While it's true that you're inheriting a world that is in the worst financial shape that it has been in many decades, it's a great time to be entering the accountancy profession.
The importance of accounting and auditing is being reinforced as it never could be in times of plenty. For example, who in the accounting world ever would have thought that we would be asked to explain "fair value" to our non-accounting friends and even strangers who have a sudden interest in a financial reporting concept-let alone that they would be interested in our responses? This is, indeed, a rare time for the accountancy profession.
- You will be entering a truly global profession in terms of rapid convergence to a single set of auditing and financial reporting standards.
- You will be on the ground floor of new systems for regulating the profession and the global financial markets.
- And, you may be participating in a debate about the purpose of financial reporting: Is it for regulators and marketplace stability, or for investors and credit grantors?
Now, I'd like to focus specifically on the economic crisis.