Private Enterprise and Financial Markets > Infrastructure and Financial Markets > Financial Markets
FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE: A First Step to Financial Market Development (Preface)
Preface
Since its founding, the Inter-American Development Bank has been involved in the development of financial markets as part of its overall strategy for supporting economic development and alleviating poverty in Latin America and the Caribbean. In the implementation of its strategies for supporting this development, the Bank Group has approved a considerable number of operations to provide resources for strengthening and reforming financial systems. In particular, the Bank Group has financed reform in twenty-four of the twenty-six borrowing member countries through loans and grants that cover most aspects of financial and capital markets. To supplement these operational experiences, the Bank Group has also produced a series of publications and organized several conferences to gather and disseminate best practices and to raise awareness of the Latin American and Caribbean region on important issues. This book forms a part of those efforts.
In recent years, the Bank Group has been targeting the efficiency and effectiveness of domestic financial and capital markets. Well-functioning financial and capital markets, perhaps even more than other economic activities, depend on information. In order to achieve an effective allocation of scarce resources, investors, entrepreneurs, and intermediaries all need information to evaluate the risk and expected return to potential investments. Likewise, ongoing disclosure of financial information is required for secondary markets to thrive and develop.
Recognizing the need to improve the quality of financial disclosure by private sector firms in Latin America and the Caribbean, the Inter-American Development Bank sponsored a conference in 1997 entitled Financial Disclosure and the Development of Financial Markets: The Impact of the Adoption of International Accounting Standards and Auditing Practices. The conference provided information on recent agreements regarding international accounting standards and was intended to generate support for the adoption of high-quality accounting and auditing standards by countries of the region. As often happens, the Inter-American Development Bank, as an institution, gained great insights from the conference participants, both those participating in the program and those attending the conference. Many of the participants expended considerable time and effort working with these difficult issues, and I would like to thank them on behalf of the Bank.
This volume includes a selection of the papers commissioned for the conference. This book constitutes only a first step in the Bank's efforts to support the implementation of accounting standards and the development of adequate information environments. It forms part of the program to implement the overall capital and financial market development strategy. Over the next several years, we plan to commit considerable resources to support the efforts of policymakers, external auditors, securities exchanges, and others in assuring that the information environment in the region truly reflects international standards.
Antonio Vives
Last updated: 06/01/07
