BB for making local accounting, auditing international standard

Bangladesh Bank governor Dr Atiur Rahman said Monday that the central bank "is looking forward to the work of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Bangladesh (ICAB) towards full convergence of the local accounting and auditing standards in financial and real sector with the international best practice standards," reports UNB. Addressing a session of 'Regional Standard-Setters (RSS) conference' of chartered accounts in Dhaka on the day, he emphasised the need for regional and international harmonisation and convergence of accounting, auditing and financial reporting standards to help flourish intra- and extra-regional investment and trade relationships. South Asian Federation of Accountants (SAFA), an apex body of the professionals in the member-countries of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Bangladesh (ICAB) and International Accounting Standard Board (IASB) arranged the conference at Sonargaon Hotel in the city. SAFA president AN Raman, ICAB president Parveen Mahmud, IASB board member Prabhakar Kalavencher and chairman of SAFA Accounting and Auditing Standard Committee Reyaz Mihular also spoke at the inaugural session of the conference. Speaking as the chief guest, the Bangladesh Bank (BB) governor said intra- and extra-regional trade will expand, in tandem with increasing openness in investment relationships. "Foreign investors will feel comfortable with joint venture and lending relationships with their Bangladesh counterparts only when they're satisfied about the completeness and transparency of financial statements and disclosures of the local partners," he told the conference. In its emerging role as a significant hub of global growth, South Asia, the BB governor noted, will need to attract a massive volume of equity and loan investments. "Intra regional cross border investments within South Asia will be growing; and South Asian investments outside the region will also be rising gradually with increasing openness," he observed. "Bangladesh Bank is gradually imposing more demanding financial reporting and the disclosure requirements for banks and financial institutions in closer convergence with international best practice standards," Dr Atiur said. ICAB president Ms. Parveen Mahmud said the convergence with the IFRS (International Financial Reporting System) is a major initiative for almost all professional accounting institutes in the world. She expressed the hope that the deliberations, made in the conference, would give the participants an opportunity to update themselves on the latest efforts of IASB and provide input to IASB on the practicability to shape the future of financial accounting.