Transparency and stability

The tension between the needs for transparency in financial reporting and financial stability was a major feature of the European Commission’s 2011 financial reporting conference. In his opening remarks, Jonathan Faull, of the European Commission, pointed to the fact that the financial crisis had highlighted the lack of transparency in financial statements. He called for ‘transparency on a global level’ and ‘global solutions’. His calls echoed those of the International Monetary Fund, World Bank and other global institutions in their responses to the Asian crisis in the 1990s.

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