Institute Helps Mark IFAC Anniversary

AICPA President and CEO Barry Melancon participated in a panel discussion on future business reporting models at the International Federation of Accountants’ 2007 council meeting, held in Mexico City in November. The meeting, titled “The Financial Reporting Environment in the 21st Century,” was part of a celebration marking the 30th anniversary of IFAC’s founding.

In his presentation, Melancon noted that today’s financial reporting world requires four critical elements: heightened communications between investors and companies; more information than is currently available; answers to investors’ questions; and reduced complexity and greater transparency.

Representatives of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales and the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants were also on the panel. The discussion was moderated by Robert Bunting, former AICPA chairman and current IFAC deputy president.

More than 200 people from IFAC member bodies and the Mexican accounting profession attended the seminar, which also covered the state of public-sector financial reporting and effective regulation.

IFAC’s anniversary celebration culminated with World Accountancy Week (Dec. 2–8), and included the World Accountancy Forum, held Dec. 4 in New York.

The AICPA was one of IFAC’s founding member bodies.