HSBC's group chairman has criticised accounting standards for being 'bizarre', and the international standard-setter for letting its convergence agenda get in the way of straightening out more pressing current issues. Stephen Green, group chairman of HSBC Holdings and chairman of the British Bankers' Association, said at the annual conference of the British Bankers' Association that 'some aspects of IFRS can only be described as bizarre'. 'The requirement to take movements in the fair value of your own debt through the profit and loss account is my favourite example, though not the only one,' said Green. In a further scathing attack on the International Accounting Standards Board and its US counterpart, the Financial Accounting Standards Board, he said: 'I am not going to dwell on these issues. I would only make the plea for a process of deliberation, which seems cumbersome even for straightforward questions, to be speeded up. Sometimes it seems as if the undoubtedly important convergence agenda of the IASB and the FASB is getting in the way of straightening out obvious - and in some cases dangerous - nonsense.' Green said the profession had questions to answer, related to complex issues such as the effect of mark-to-market accounting, when there is a total breakdown of market liquidity, as well as technical matters such as whether there should be an available-for-sale category of accounting alongside mark-to-market and accrual accounting. Speaking to delegates later about the role of accounting in the financial crisis, Bill Michael, KPMG partner in charge of UK financial services, said that contact with key stakeholders had been low. 'In my experience, our profession has rarely discussed the risks presented in financial statements in any meaningful way In such an environment policed by rules, accounting is often swimming against the tide increasing the challenge for financial statements to be more objective and meaningful. Therefore its no surprise accounts are long and complex with inherent limitations that need to be better understood,' said Michael.