Public Lecture by Professor Stephen Zeff
Public lecture by Professor Stephen Zeff: ‘Towards Global Financial Reporting Comparability’
The Centre for Accounting, Governance and Taxation Research (CAGTR), in collaboration with the External Reporting Board (XRB), hosted the XRB’s inaugural Occasional Lecture last Tuesday, ‘Towards Global Financial Reporting Comparability’.
In his introductory comments, Kevin Simpkins, Chair of the XRB and Adjunct Professor in the School of Accounting and Commercial Law, emphasised the XRB’s commitment to encouraging discussion and debate of accounting and auditing topics of importance to New Zealand.
The lecture was presented by Professor Stephen Zeff, the Herbert S. Autrey Professor of Accounting, Rice University, Houston. Professor Zeff traced the history of the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) and discussed the key challenges faced by the IASB in the quest for global comparability. These challenges included reactions to a US decision on adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards and the pleadings from major jurisdictions for special tailoring of standards.
John Shewan, Chairman of PricewaterhouseCoopers and Chair of the Advisory Board to the Faculty of Commerce and Administration, provided the Commentary and suggested that the process of standard setting needs to recognise the trade-off between comparability and complexity while aiming for the goals of credibility and coherence.
Around 120 people, from a wide variety of corporate and public sector organisations, attended the lecture.