2.3
THE ISSUE OF TRANSPARENCY IN ACCOUNTING INFORMATION
It has always been argued by members of the accounting world
that efficient disclosure of accounting information in an accurate, timely and
reliable way will help influence an accurate assessment of a companies
financial performance at a particular point in time. As the internal market
commissioner for the European commission Frits Bolkestein (2000) puts it,
adequate disclosure serves to improve the transparency of financial information
published by banks and other financial institutions.
The market is an important user of financial information and
an effective assessment of a company's financial situation can't be done if
there is not adequate disclosure. But, the question arises, how can financial
information be clear when languages and meanings may differ from one country to
another? Translation and other problems may hinder transparency and fairness in
accounting information, especially when they are not prepared using a
particular reporting standard. Users of accounting and other financial
information have always been emphasizing the need for the world to have a
common accounting language to facilitate an understanding of the information.
Country specific accounting principles are so varied that the aspirations for a
globally integrated capital market can be fulfilled only through a uniform
financial reporting code (Ghosh, 2001).
| 
