G-20 Wants Global GAAP

The Group of 20 last week committed to global accounting standards. They asked standard setters to “work urgently with supervisors and regulators to improve standards on valuation and provisioning and achieve a single set of high-quality global accounting standards.”

The group athey also called for a Financial Stability Board to have authority to review and advise financial regulators and standard-setting bodies.

Their wish list includes:

• Progress towards a single set of high-quality global accounting standards;
• Reduction in complexity of accounting standards for financial instruments;
• Clarity and consistency in the application of valuation standards internationally;
• Independent standard-setters;
• Improved accounting standards for provisioning, off-balance-sheet exposures and valuation uncertainty;
• Improves involvement of stakeholders, including regulators and emerging markets, through the IASB’s constitutional review.