Global convergence.

Back in June, Bank of Canada Governor David Dodge made an address to the European Economics and Financial Centre in Paris that placed in sharp relief one of the critical issues the accounting profession faces worldwide.

Dodge first stressed that macroeconomic policy coordination among countries should be limited, although policy makers in each country should co-operate in sharing information and views on monetary and fiscal policy; understanding other countries' economies can only help us make better policy decisions at home.

But despite the importance of keeping economies independent, there are areas that need to be coordinated better, such as international trade. As Dodge states, "in order to have freer trade worldwide, countries need to come together to draw up and enforce a set of rules governing the exchange of goods and services."

Dodge accepts that we have a considerable way to go before the global trade order improves substantially but he appears more positive about international coordination of financial markets.

"We do need a coordinated, transparent framework to support and maintain effective and efficient global capital markets," says Dodge. "And we do need to promote the coordination of accounting standards."

This message isn't lost on anyone in the accounting field. The International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) and its Canadian member organizations certainly see the value of continually pushing forward with changes to international accounting practices. IFAC is working towards the convergence of accounting standards internationally and reiterated its dedication to this goal at a recent meeting of its board of directors in New York, where the organization's strategic plan for 2005-2008 was unveiled.

The strategic plan also addresses new and evolving issues that will require considerable attention in coming years, particularly corporate governance, sustainability reporting and narrative reporting, all issues that CMA Management has and will continue to discuss. Look for more on narrative reporting in upcoming issues. For more details from the New York IFAC meeting, turn to our Global View column.

CMA Canada is actively promoting strategic improvements to corporate governance through performance management and the Balanced Scorecard. As part of this ongoing initiative, CMA Canada will be co-hosting three conferences in New York, Chicago and San Francisco entitled "Corporate Governance & Today's CFO." The presentations are in association with the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and Balanced Scorecard Collaborative, Inc., and will take place in October and November. For more information look for the ad in this issue of CMA Management.

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Robert Colman

Editor-in-Chief