SARAJEVO, June 27, 2011 – The World Bank hosted today a conference to present the findings of the 2010 World Bank Accounting and Auditing Report on the Observance of Standards and Codes (A&A ROSC). The document assesses corporate financial reporting practices in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BH), using as benchmarks international standards, (International Financial Reporting Standards –IFRS; and International Standards on Auditing-ISA) and the European Union corpus of Law, the acquis communautaire, as it relates to corporate financial reporting. The conference highlighted progress made by BH since the previous ROSC report was published in 2004, and took note of recommendations to overcome the remaining challenges.
The conference was attended by the Entity-level Ministers of Finance and other senior government officials; the Central Bank of BH officials; as well as private and financial sector companies, the accounting and auditing profession, and academia.
“I would like to express our gratitude to the World Bank team of experts involved, during 2010, in the preparation of this report, for their effort related to the complex analysis of various accounting and audit issues and also for their professional recommendations aimed to improve the quality of financial reporting in Bosnia and Herzegovina”, said Ms. Sehija Mujkanović, representative of the BH Ministry of Finance and Treasury.
“No transparency, no trust; no trust no credit; no credit, no investment; no investment, no growth” said Henri Fortin, Head of the World Bank Centre for Financial Reporting Reform. “To ensure transparency BH should implement rapidly IFRS for SMEs in a way that can be compatible with the EU acquis.”
“A strengthened corporate financial reporting framework will foster private and financial sector development in Bosnia and Herzegovina as well as restore investors’ trust and confidence, which is so much needed to economic growth, explained Pascal Frèrejacque, who led the World Bank team that prepared the A&A ROSC report.
The A&A ROSC has been carried out by a team of experts from the Vienna-based World Bank Centre for Financial Reporting Reform, a unique initiative of the World Bank to assist countries to enhance their corporate sector financial reporting standards and practices.
