I spent Monday and Tuesday...

Sun 20 Jan 2008, 13:20

... in New York at the fourth Global Public Policy Symposium ("GPPS IV"). GPPS IV was a meeting of representatives of "the world's six leading accounting and audit networks", regulators, investors and business leaders

In my view this was the best such meeting so far for a number of reasons. From a personal perspective it was good to see BDO accepted as an equal partner with the other leading global networks - there were far fewer references to the "Big 4" than at previous meetings (when this was followed by a mumbled apology to include BDO and GTI) and most of those came from John Humphreys who was "moderating" the various sessions. In addition, there was positive dialogue with investors and an overwhelming feeling that we can work together. There was also support from regulators particularly for global accounting standards but also for global auditing standards and even for a more global approach to regulation. All very positive developments. There is still some way to go but this was a good step in the right direction.