Brazil

This report provides an assessment of accounting, financial reporting, and auditing practices within the corporate sector in Brazil, using International Financial Reporting... Show More + Standards (IFRS) and International Standards on Auditing (ISA) as benchmarks, and drawing on international experience and good practices in those fields. The main objective of this Report on the Observance of Standards and Codes (ROSC) assessment is to assist the Government in strengthening private sector accounting and auditing practices, and in enhancing financial transparency in Brazil's corporate sector. The development objectives these efforts address are improving the investment climate, fostering competitiveness and furthering regional and international economic integration. Brazil is the largest economy in South America, with an estimated 187 million inhabitants and US$ 1,067 billion of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2006. To increase investments in infrastructure, it seeks to reduce its cost of doing business and to improve enterprises' access to long term financing. Banks and, more recently, the capital market are the main source of financing for the private sector. Brazil has one of the most dynamic securities markets in Latin America, with almost 400 domestic companies listed on the Sao Paulo stock exchange; 37 of these are also listed in the US. Brazil's strategy to boost the development of its private sector will benefit from the further development of the stock market, which requires Brazilian corporations' financial reporting to meet the highest international standards. Show Less -