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New paper highlights key agreements and missed opportunities

08 Apr 2009

ACCA has published a paper on the outcomes of the G20 Summit held in London on 2 April, in which it expresses concern about the lack of further clarification of certain key issues, such as the regulation of hedge funds and toxic assets.

'The G20 resulted in largely positive reactions from business leaders around the world,' said Helen Brand, ACCA chief executive. 'There were strong messages about global co-ordination and regulation. But there was no firm plan announced to deal with the billions of dollars of toxic assets clogging up the global banking system, although leaders did agree that there should be a global common approach to tackling them. And probably because it is such a complex issue, details about the regulation of hedge funds were missing.'

Brand also commented on the absence of any new environmental measures, such as investment in a low-carbon economy: 'ACCA believes that the twin crunches of climate and finance have led to a unique and incredible opportunity to re-build global markets with systems sympathetic to climate change, that value societal and environmental costs and that are sustainable in the truest sense. It was a missed opportunity by the summit leaders not to place sustainability central to its plans.'

There were, however, some encouraging developments, with the G20 promising to approach the International Monetary Fund to take on a stronger role in supervising the global financial system, and an agreement for a single set of accounting standards.

'ACCA was particularly delighted that the G20 communiqué called on accounting standard setters - the International Accounting Standards Board and the Financial Accounting Standards Board - to work urgently on a single set of high-quality global accounting standards,' said Brand. 'ACCA has long favoured the principles-based International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).'

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