The Westernisation of a financial reporting enforcement system in an emerging economy

Building on semi-structured interviews and publicly available documents in the realm of accounting, auditing and capital market regulation in Romania, this paper reviews and reflects on the prerequisites for, and conditions affecting the development of a financial reporting enforcement system (FRES) of Western origin in an emerging economy. It does so by examining institutional factors within and across the key components of the Romanian FRES, namely the engagement of the preparers and auditors of corporate financial reports and their interactions with public oversight bodies. The creation and functioning of the Romanian FRES are driven by the dynamics between Western and local pushes and pulls. Western actors offered support, especially in terms of technical assistance and educational programmes, but the Romanian government delayed the implementation of local support mechanisms, such that practices and mindsets did not change initially. Although practices and institutions have evolved since the country joined the European Union in 2007, the pursuit of a functional Western-based FRES remains an on-going process that is highly dependent on both the continuous external provision of adequate resources and the enrolment of national actors in the deployment of these resources.