World Federation of Exchanges Endorses IAASB

October 27, 2006

FEI Summary

On Oct. 27, 2006 the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) announced that IFAC’s International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB) received formal endorsement from the  World Federation of Exchanges (WFE) last week regarding IAASB’s processes for establishing International Standards on Auditing (ISAs).

WFE represents 57 securities and derivative markets that account for more than 97 percent of world stock market capitalization.

IFAC noted the endorsement of the WFE “provides important impetus for convergence to international standards, which is among IFAC's and the IAASB's most critical goals.”

"We welcome this important endorsement of the ISA standard-setting process by the World Federation of Exchanges,” said IFAC President Graham Ward. “It is a significant recognition of the quality of the ISAs and the important role they play in ensuring greater comparability of financial information for investors and facilitating cross border trade - both of which are critical to generating economic growth."

FEI member David M. Morris, CEO of Morris Consulting, and Chair of FEI’s Globalization Oversight Committee (GOC), serves on the IAASB’s Consultative Advisory Group (CAG).

Prepared Oct. 27, 2006 by Edith Orenstein (eorenstein@FinancialExecutives.org), Director, Technical Policy Analysis, Financial Executives International (FEI). This summary does not represent FEI opinion, unless specifically noted above