1. To analyse and evaluate the role of regulation in financial reporting and the calculation and presentation of detailed company accounts
    • Define and explain what ‘IFRS Standards’ are with reference to supporting academic references;
    • Identify and explain who sets IFRS Standards, with reference to supporting academic references;
    • Describe and explain how IFRS Standards ‘help create trust’ using supporting academic references and real-life examples from your research for this assignment.
    • Critically evaluate whether investors are given ‘confidence’ by the existence and implementation of IFRS standards with reference to academic sources and real-life examples.
    • Critically analyse and conclude on whether or not IFRS Standards improve the ‘quality, robustness and the completeness of the financial information provided by companies.’ Please use relevant academic references and specific examples to support your answer.Assessment Task

      “It is difficult to overstate the importance of high quality financial reporting standards to the world economy.  If money makes the world go round, then the system can only function when people understand how that money is being used and managed.

      Market-based economies are built on financial exchanges between providers and consumers of capital.  The system only works when trust exists between investors and the people they entrust their money to.  IFRS Standards help create that trust by providing investors with confidence in the quality, the robustness and the completeness of the financial information provided by companies.”

      Source: Speech by Hans Hoogervorst, Chairman of the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB)

      on 24 August 2016, at the Joint IFRS Foundation, PAFA and ICPAK Conference, Nairobi, Kenya, Africa.

      Retrieved from:http://www.ifrs.org/Features/Pages/Nairobi-Conference-Speech-Hans-Hoogervorst.aspx

      Task 1 (100 marks overall grade – 1,000 word equivalent)

      Critically analyse the quotation above paying particular attention to the following:

    Your analysis will follow a critical analytical approach by engaging with relevant academic literature and should include relevant quantitative and qualitative data. You are expected to provide evidence of critical assessment of a range of sources. The exploration of relevant source materials should be clearly evidenced to support your arguments. A bibliography is required.