While his remarks focused on auditing standards, they have equal relevance in the context of global accounting standards. Regarding adoption versus convergence, Mr Kellas argued strongly for the direct adoption by a national standard setter of ISAs, or working towards adopting these standards. "For the vast majority of countries, adoption is the most sensible strategy: Adoption has all the advantages of convergence; all countries may contribute to the standard setting process and IAASB has no domination by any one jurisdiction; and it is the fastest way to eliminate or minimise differences." Mr Kellas presented a list of attributes of high quality auditing standards that apply equally to accounting standards:

High-quality standards are: Clear Not capable of different interpretations Capable of translation Enforceable Designed to achieve a high-quality audit 'Jurisdictionally neutral' Strike a balance between principles and rules Subject to due process Subject to public oversight

Click to Download Mr Kellas's Presentation (ZIP 481k). The ZIP file contains both the text of his remarks (Word DOC) and his presentation slides (PowerPoint PPT).

Click for our 16 June 2007 conference News Story.