The participants published a Declaration of the Summit on Financial Markets and the World Economy (PDF 50k). The Declaration sets out both immediate actions (by 31 March 2009) and medium-term actions that should be taken to strengthen the global economy and reform the world's financial markets. The leaders agreed on a set of common principles for market reforms, including the following principle for strengthening transparency and accountability:

We will strengthen financial market transparency, including by enhancing required disclosure on complex financial products and ensuring complete and accurate disclosure by firms of their financial conditions. Incentives should be aligned to avoid excessive risk-taking.

The excerpts below are the recommendations most directly related to the IASB and IFRSs.

Strengthening Transparency and Accountability

Immediate Actions by March 31, 2009:

• The key global accounting standards bodies should work to enhance guidance for valuation of securities, also taking into account the valuation of complex, illiquid products, especially during times of stress.
• Accounting standard setters should significantly advance their work to address weaknesses in accounting and disclosure standards for off-balance sheet vehicles.
• Regulators and accounting standard setters should enhance the required disclosure of complex financial instruments by firms to market participants.
• With a view toward promoting financial stability, the governance of the international accounting standard setting body should be further enhanced, including by undertaking a review of its membership, in particular in order to ensure transparency, accountability, and an appropriate relationship between this independent body and the relevant authorities.
• Private sector bodies that have already developed best practices for private pools of capital and/or hedge funds should bring forward proposals for a set of unified best practices. Finance Ministers should assess the adequacy of these proposals, drawing upon the analysis of regulators, the expanded FSF, and other relevant bodies.

Medium-term actions:

• The key global accounting standards bodies should work intensively toward the objective of creating a single high-quality global standard.
• Regulators, supervisors, and accounting standard setters, as appropriate, should work with each other and the private sector on an ongoing basis to ensure consistent application and enforcement of high-quality accounting standards.
• Financial institutions should provide enhanced risk disclosures in their reporting and disclose all losses on an ongoing basis, consistent with international best practice, as appropriate. Regulators should work to ensure that a financial institution's financial statements include a complete, accurate, and timely picture of the firm's activities (including off-balance sheet activities) and are reported on a consistent and regular basis.

Reinforcing International Cooperation

Medium-term actions:

• Authorities, drawing especially on the work of regulators, should collect information on areas where convergence in regulatory practices such as accounting standards, auditing, and deposit insurance is making progress, is in need of accelerated progress, or where there may be potential for progress.