The European Parliament is currently working on its own initiative report on “The EU role in the framework of international financial, monetary and regulatory institutions and bodies”. In this context, the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee (ECON) has organized a workshop, which took place on 17th June 2015 in Brussels. The workshop’s aim was to provide ECON Members  with information and background on the current situation of EU representation in financial standard setting bodies within selected international entities.

Prof. Sebastian Botzem reported on the International Accounting Standards Board. International Financial Reporting Standards define the rules for corporate accounting and are set by a private standard setter: the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB). The EU has no formal role in developing these standards, but de facto endorses them ex post. This raises questions with regard to the overrepresentation of commercial interests in accounting regulation and the need to debate a stronger role not only for civil society actors but also for public entities such as regulators.

You may find more infomation at the European Parliament`s website.

A video stream of the workshop is provided here.