ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
We feel very privileged to have completed this work with the
help of some people. Our peers, professors, and administrators of the School of
Economics and commercial law, especially those within the Graduate Business
School who have assisted us enormously in realizing our goal. We are not able
to present an exhaustive list; thus we give thanks to every body.
We owe special thanks to our supervisor, Assistant Professor
Håkan Javefor for his inspirational approach to supervising, and for
bestowing us with the insight of research methods.
We are also indebted to P. Mattila and M. Åhlqvist for
their `challenger - role' during our thesis seminars.
We are also very thankful to our Parents, relatives and
friends for their moral and financial support during this period of profound
dedication in our lives.
May you all receive abundant blessing from the Almighty God.
December 2001
Fossung Michael Forzeh Rexon Nting Tayong
LIST OF
FIGURES
FIGURE 1: BEST PERFORMING BANKS IN RISK DISCLOSURE
1999-2001
9
FIGURE 2: GROUP OF COUNTRIES WITH IDENTICAL
ACCOUNTING PRACTICES.
10
FIGURE 3: GROUPS OF COUNTRIES WITH COMMON
ACCOUNTING PRACTICES.
19
FIGURE 4: PROPOSED RESEARCH DESIGN FOR STUDYING
REPORTING PRACTICES.
26
FIGURE 5: SCOPE OF THE SURVEY (A PRESENTATION OF
SAMPLE)
28
FIGURE 6: PROPOSED COMPARATIVE FRAMEWORK.
43
FIGURE 7: SUMMARY OF FINDINGS.
51
FIGURE 8: ACCOUNTING STANDARDS OF USE BY LOCAL AND
MNES BY 2010
54
TABLE OF CONTENT
ABSTRACT
I
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
II
CHAPTER 1
1
1. INTRODUCTION
1
1.1 BACKGROUND
1
1.2 CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
2
1.3 FORCES AND PRESSURES FOR ACCOUNTING
HARMONIZATION
3
1.4 PROBLEM STATEMENT
4
1.5 OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY
5
1.6 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
6
CHAPTER 2
7
2. LITERATURE REVIEW
7
2.1 REPORTING POLICIES AND PRACTICES VS
REGULATIONS
7
2.1.1 The Influence Of Culture
10
2.2 HARMONIZATION OF INTERNATIONAL
ACCOUNTING STANDARDS
13
2.2.1 What Is Accounting Harmonization
13
2.2.2 Accounting Areas With Differing
Accounting Policies
13
2.2.3 Practical Differences In Accounting
Development and Annual Accounts -An EC Perspective
15
2.2.4 The Role Of Different Pressure Groups On
Accounting Harmonization Among EC States
20
2.2.5 International Quasi-Governmental
Bodies
21
2.2.6 Investors, Analyst And The Stock
Markets
21
2.2.7 Employees And Trade Unions
22
2.2.8 Credit Institutions
22
2.2.9 Accountants, Auditors and the General
Public
22
2.3 THE ISSUE OF TRANSPARENCY IN
ACCOUNTING INFORMATION
23
CHAPTER 3
25
3. METHODOLOGY OF STUDY
25
3.1 RESEARCH STRATEGY
25
3.2 CASE STUDY STRATEGY
26
3.3 CHOICE OF COUNTRIES
27
3.4 CHOICE OF CASE STUDY AND SCOPE OF
THE SURVEY
27
3.5 CHOICE OF BANKS
27
3.5 DATA AND INFORMATION
COLLECTION
28
3.6 LITERATURE REVIEW
28
3.7 VALIDITY
29
CHAPTER 4
31
4 ACCOUNTING POLICIES AND PRACTICES
31
4.1 THE SWEDISH ACCOUNTING
31
4.1.1 FöreningsSparbanken
31
4.1.2 Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken
(S.E.B.)
33
4.2 THE GERMANIC ACCOUNTING
35
4.2.1 Dresdner Bank AB
35
4.2.2 Deutsche Bank Ab
37
4.3 THE BRITISH ACCOUNTING
38
4.3.1 HSBC Bank
38
4.3.2 Barclays Bank Plc.
40
CHAPTER 5
43
5.1 ANALYSIS
43
5.2 SUMMARY OF FINDINGS
49
CHAPTER 6
53
6.1 CONCLUSION
53
6.2 CONCLUDING NOTE
54
6.3 LOOKING TO THE FUTURE
54
REFERENCES
57
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