JEDDAH: Ernst & Young (E&Y), one of the world’s leading professional services organizations, conducted a two-day seminar here which focused on developments in international financial reporting standards (IFRS) and the amendments to accounting standards. IFRS are becoming increasingly important with a number of countries either adopting IFRS as the basis for their national accounting standards or incorporating IFRS into their existing national standards.
The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) is reviewing accounting issues emerging from the global financial crisis, resulting in amendments to existing accounting standards. The seminar, which was held on Sunday and Monday, focused on all such recent amendments in the context of global financial crisis and also covered certain subjects reflecting other developments in IFSR.
The seminar, which was attended by the business community in Jeddah, was presented by Ian Charles of the London-based Emile Woolf International (Training Professionals), one of the world’s leading presenters on IFRS.
Speaking at the seminar, Ahmed Reda, managing partner of E&Y Jeddah office, said: “It is a pleasure welcoming so many members of the finance community to Jeddah for this seminar.
In Saudi Arabia, the Saudi Organization of Certified Public Accountants (SOCPA) has played a tremendous role in developing the accounting profession by way of providing professional qualifications for Saudis like me and also by issuing detailed standards on a number of different and important accountancy related subjects.
After the guidance by SOCPA to follow IFRS, in case no SOCPA standard exists, the importance of IFRS has grown considerably. This is complimented by the fact that the banks and insurance companies in Saudi Arabia are already following IFRS.”
Reda’s views were shared by a number of attendees representing different segments of the business community, including banking, insurance, manufacturing, real estate, trading and the services sectors, who commented that they find knowledge of IFRS increasingly beneficial and commended Ernst & Young for conducting such timely seminars.
Ernst & Young is a global leader in assurance, tax, transaction and advisory services. The company’s Jeddah office has been providing professional services to Jeddah’s business community for over 40 years and has a staff of over 200.