Investors must be at the heart of the financial system (26/9)
26/09/2012 - 51 Lượt xem
In
Vietnam, following a roundtable workshop between domestic financial
institutions and the Finance Ministry, which took place in Ho Chi Minh
City on September 17, 2012, a meeting was held in Hanoi on September 18
to announce and discuss the report, attracting more than 100
representatives of domestic businesses and financial institutions.
The
report indicates that investors want public limited companies (PLCs) to
provide more forecasts and information to help analysts assess the
forecasts. Financial information must be clear and reliable. Investors
found that unified reports provide them with information they lack.
Unified reports are made based on a tight combination between risk
management and business results. The provision of clear reports on
social accountability, environment and business administration will
help increase investor trust in the future management capability of
managers.
Grant
Thornton Vietnam Managing Director Ken Atkinson said, "An important
thing is that the role of investors must be recognized and they should
contribute their opinions to developing global financial and accounting
standards. This matter is still ignored and it must be dealt with."
Answering
the question should Vietnam apply Vietnamese accounting standards (VAS)
or international financial reporting standards (IFRS), Dang Thai Hung,
Director of the Accounting and Auditing Department of the Finance
Ministry, said, "Vietnam has undergone 20 years of renovation in the
field of accounting and auditing and achieved good results especially
in the last decade (2001-2010). The Accounting Law and the Law on State
Audit have been promulgated, setting new standards applied to all
business types. Vietnam has its own standards on auditing, but it
remains very difficult for us to apply these standards in the public
accounting system." Dang Thai Hung added that the Finance Ministry
still plays a limited role in supervising the application of accounting
and auditing standards at Vietnamese businesses. To improve the
situation, the Finance Ministry will soon establish a financially
self-supporting organization that is responsible for supervising the
application of accounting and auditing standards at businesses when
they make a financial report. Such an organization will be operational
under the name Accounting and Auditing Supervisory Authority.
Dr.
Hoang Viet Ha, Director of Operations at Bao Viet Group, said, "Making
financial reports according to IFRS allows us to analyze and compare
the operation situation of our businesses to that of other companies so
that we can make exact observations about favorable conditions as well
as difficulties that face us and propose suitable policies and
strategies. The transparency of financial reporting will help us win
the trust of customers, investors and partners. It will facilitate our
transactions. Businesses which apply IFRS will have more advantages
than those which do not apply these standards."
Chief
Representative of ACCA in Vietnam, Le Thi Hong Len, said that through
research, ACCA and Grant Thornton found investors do not yet know what
they need from the financial reports of businesses. The workshop helped
Vietnamese investors understand what kinds of information they need and
present their opinions on existing financial reports.
"Investors
want the gap between Vietnamese and international financial reporting
standards to be as small as possible. However, it will be very
difficult to apply IFRS in Vietnam due to the lack of human and
financial resources. ACCA Vietnam has been operational for 10 years but
so far just more than 500 of its members have met international
standards - a too small number. Vietnamese businesses still lack
qualified accountants and this makes it difficult for them to apply
IFRS," said Le Thi Hong Len./.
Source: VEN
Source: VEN
