BASSETERRE St. Kitts, May 1st, 2012 -- Over 70 accounting professionals from the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union (ECCU) member countries are participating in a five-day Train the Trainers Workshop on the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs), which is designed to develop their capacity to provide training in the use of the IFRSs.
The IFRSs are a set of accounting standards developed by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB), which are being adopted globally for the preparation of public company financial statements.
The workshop, which officially opened at the ECCB Headquarters in St Kitts and Nevis this morning, is part of a World Bank sponsored project and is being executed in partnership with the Institute of Chartered Accountants of the Eastern Caribbean (ICAEC), the IFRS Foundation and the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB).
Speaking at the opening ceremony, Managing Director of the ECCB, Mrs Jennifer Nero, said the groundwork for the project was laid in 2006 when the World Bank completed a Report on Standards and Codes (ROSC) on the quality of accounting and auditing infrastructure and practices in the OECS. She added that in 2010, the World Bank approved a grant of US$455,000 to assist with addressing the deficiencies identified. The ICAEC was then given the mandate to deliver three core deliverables before 2013.
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1. The development of a cadre of competent trainers in the OECS to conduct IFRS Training;
2. The creation of a long-term business plan that ensures the financial viability of an independent and sustainable ICAEC; and
3. The designing of an Operations Manual describing a quality assurance model of Accounting and Auditing Practices for the OECS.
Mrs Nero said that to date, the ICAEC, under the guidance of its President, Mr Frank Myers, has made substantial progress on the deliverables.
In delivering remarks at the opening ceremony, Mr Myers said the workshop would help to prompt the region’s accountants to think more deeply about the application of the IFRSs rather than following past procedures.
Also speaking at the opening ceremony, Mr Michael Wells, Director of the International Financial Reporting Standards - Education Initiative commended the ECCU accounting professionals for their consistent and vigorous application of the standards in the region.
He said the workshop will focus on the concepts behind the IFRSs and link them to the objectives of general purpose financial reporting and the other underlying concepts.
He added that the first workshop, which was conducted from 16 – 20 May 2011, has since been replicated 22 times and that the current workshop will also be replicated in other jurisdictions around the world.
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