Barry Naik (he/his) is the Director for the Forum of Firms (FoF) which currently comprising over 30 member Network firms is headquartered out of IFAC's New York office. At the FoF, Mr. Naik leads various initiatives in support of further advancing Audit Quality.

Mr. Naik started his career in legislative audit working for several years at the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General of New Zealand followed by a secondment to the Office of the Auditor General of Canada and then the Canadian Public Sector Accounting Board. Mr. Naik has also spent time with the International Public Sector Accounting Standard Board.

He has a BCA and BA from Victoria University, Wellington, New Zealand and is a Chartered Accountant with Chartered Accountants Australia & New Zealand  (CA ANZ). Outside of work Barry enjoys fitness, quality time with family and friends and is a long time volunteer with The Trevor Project.

Read an interview with Barry here.

I am truly delighted to be here today to participate in this important event. My thanks and congratulations to Jorge Paganetti and to FACPCE for hosting CReCER this year.

The title of this session is Key Factors for the Development of Capital Markets.

We will hear from a variety of speakers, including representatives of the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, and the Global Public Policy Committee.

They will speak about openness, transparency, the public sector, and the role of the auditor. I would like to spend a few minutes on IFAC’s role, and how we work with the other organizations to support efficient, effective capital markets.

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. I am truly delighted to be here today to participate in this important event.

As you are all aware, the global financial crisis has focused a spotlight on the relationship between the accountancy profession, financial stability, and overall economic and social progress.

After all, accountancy is the foundation of high-quality financial information. And high-quality financial information increases transparency, enhances the effective management of public resources, and furthers country stability and economic growth—which, in turn, facilitates foreign direct investment.

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. I am truly delighted to be here today to participate in this important event. Many thanks to Mr. Ádám Balog, Deputy State Secretary, Ministry for National Economy, and Dr. János Lukács, President, MKVK, for hosting the meeting and inviting me to participate.

As we stand here today, the world is still affected by the financial crisis and the economic environment. Here in Hungary, the government is making strides to cut the budget deficit—and that is very positive. But of course there are countries within the EU and all over the world that are still being affected by the broader global slowdown.

So what can we—what should we—do?

Certainly, significant financial reforms are being considered in different parts of the world. IFAC’s view is that we need to build a sustainable business environment and a strong financial architecture.

Financial infrastructure—in the form of high quality, recognized standards in auditing and assurance, ethics, education, public sector accounting, and related regulation—is the only way that we can achieve broad-based, sustainable economic development.

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. I am truly delighted to be here today to participate in this important event. We have been anticipating this event for 4 or 5 years now, and I know a lot of people have worked very hard to make this happen and to make PAFA a reality.

My congratulations to Matsobane Matlwa, Chairman of the PAFA Steering Committee and all stakeholders involved in the development of PAFA. And many thanks to Mamour Fall, President of ONECCA Senegal, for hosting this event, and to Aziz Dieye and Patrick Kabuya, Members of the Steering Committee, for actively contributing to its organization.

And, on behalf of IFAC, congratulations to Senegal on your big move in the FIFA world rankings. Even though it was announced several weeks ago, I thought there would still be parties to celebrate! But we have enough to celebrate with the launch of PAFA.

It’s an important step. To me, one of the most impressive things is that this was done during a period of global financial crisis!

Thank you, Chris, for the introduction. Good morning ladies and gentleman. It is a pleasure being here today and I want to thank you all for coming so early on a Saturday morning. The topic for my comments today is global developments in the accountancy profession. While I will focus on global developments, the issues I will address certainly have local implications.

The global economy is still emerging from a crisis that has tested the international financial system to its limits. The most critical phase of the crisis may, and I stress may, have passed, but recovery remains fragile, and the impact of the crisis continues to be being felt around the world. As a profession we need to think about both how we can contribute to the avoidance of future crises, and how the current crisis will affect our role in the economy and society going forward.

This morning I will introduce the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC), outline the diversity of our profession, describe very briefly the nature of regulatory developments in recent years, and identify some likely developments for the future