Harmonization of Financial Reporting and Auditing Across Cultural Boundaries: An Examination of 201 Company Financial Reports

In 1973 a consortium of nine accountancy bodies under the initiative of Sir Henry Benson formed the International Accounting Standards Committee (IASC), an organization devoted to the development of a universal accounting language that companies could use to cross‐list on financial exchanges throughout the world. Effective 2001, the organization became the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) and is today recognized as a world leader in setting financial accounting standards. However, good accounting standards are meaningless without strong auditing standards. This study was undertaken to determine the proliferation of International Accounting Standards (IAS) throughout the world financial markets, whilst simultaneously assessing the role that the audit might play in the context of IAS enforcement. Upon completion of the study, many questions remain unanswered.