Financial Reporting and Global Capital Markets: A History of the International Accounting Standards Committee, 1973-2000

Standardization and harmonization of accounting practices is a fundamental element of a global business environment. Achieving this is a complex process that involves technical and political negotiation. The International Accounting Standards Committee (IASC) was the organization that pioneered this process on a world-wide basis.

The IASC prepared the way for the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) and its International Financial Reporting Standards, which since 2005 have held the dominant influence over the financial reporting of thousands of listed companies in the European Union, as well as in many other countries.

The forces and influences that shaped the formation of the IASB were intimately connected with the historical organization and operation of its predecessor, the IASC, and so to understand the standards enforced in financial reporting today, a historical understanding of the IASC is required. Financial Reporting and Global Capital Markets does just this. It examines the history of the IASC from 1973 to 2000, including its foundation, operation, changing membership and leadership, achievements and setbacks, the development of its standards, and its restructuring leading up to the creation of the IASB in 2001.

The book also studies the impact of the IASC’s standards on national standard setting and on accounting practice in developed and developing countries, as well as the impact on the IASC of the policies and positions of the UN, the OECD, the US Securities and Exchange Commission, the International Organization of Securities Commissions, and the European Commission. It will be of vital interest to all concerned with accounting developments in a global environment, be they academics, policy-makers, or professionals.

Kees Camfferman is Professor of Financial Accounting at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, and a qualified auditor (the Netherlands). His research, published in several international academic journals, is focused on the development of financial reporting practices and of the institutional framework of financial reporting from the 19th century to the present.
Stephen A. Zeff is a former president of the American Accounting Association (AAA) and a former editor of The Accounting Review. He has been inducted into the Accounting Hall of Fame, and the AAA has given him its Outstanding Accounting Educator award. He has lectured in more than fifty countries and has served as the international research adviser to the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland. His primary research interest is the comparative history of accounting standard setting and regulation.