The National System for the Regulation of Financial Reporting

This chapter analyses the system for the regulation of financial reporting. Enterprises, in preparing their financial statements, are obliged to follow the rules of the country under whose jurisdiction they fall — in the case of groups, this is the country in which the parent enterprise is registered. In each European country the financial reporting of the enterprises under its jurisdiction is governed by a unique mix of the rules that were analysed in the last chapter: laws, decrees, standards, recommendations and interpretations. The bodies that set these rules are also specific to the country; that is, each country has its own unique system for the regulation of financial reporting. The importance of the bodies varies. In fact, in some European countries, certain categories of bodies are not present; for example, there is no standard-setting body in Ireland. The same applies to rules; for example, the writings of academics have no significant influence in many European countries, and, in fact, were only mentioned in the last chapter, because of their importance in a few countries. Also the authority of the different bodies and of their rules varies from country to country. The different categories of rule-makers will now be considered, beginning with the state.