The Minister of Industry and Commerce Dr Hassan Abdullah Fakhro, who opened the two-day workshop organised by the Bahrain Accountants Association, said that the conservative regulatory regime which was a characteristic of the commercial and financial climate in the Kingdom, and which includes a strong corporate governance element.
“Successfully navigating through difficult and turbulent times requires not only a strong hand at the helm and it also requires all hands on deck. It is not sufficient merely for regulators to be on top of any new emerging issues, it requires everyone involved to be responsible, from employees to shareholders, creditors to lenders. We cannot rely entirely on regulation, to a greater extent it is down to individual and corporate responsibility, and this is largely down to transparency in reporting and analysis, which I believe workshops such as this, and the activities of organisations like the Bahrain Accounting Society, play an important role,” the Minister told the participants of the conference opened on Wednesday at the Crowne Plaza Hotel.
Talking about the theme of this workshop he said it points to foreign institutions having a culture of reporting and analysis.
“I would argue that this is the product first of strong regulatory regimes, but which has also been driven by the investors, particularly institutional investors, which have demanded transparency in all respects with regard to their investments,” Dr Fakhro explained.
Organised by the Bahrain Accountants Association under the title of ‘Accounts Reporting and Financial Analysis – As a Culture of Foreign Institutions,’ and the Minister thanked Society for their continuing good work in raising the standard of accounting and reporting in the country, and for their efforts in organising such events, which help in creating a better awareness of current issues and brings together professionals to debate important issues in the accounting and reporting field.
“In particular as it my earnest belief that financial reporting and analysis is a cornerstone to improving not only company performance, but also investor relations. These are components, which can contribute significantly to improving the investment climate in the country, and can help in attracting new investors,” he said.
“This particular workshop is timely, coming as it does at a point when the world is recovering from the global financial crisis, and at a time when regulators are better placed to plan a way forward to prevent similar catastrophes recurring in the future.
There is always a danger, I feel, in taking immediate regulatory action to deal with an issue before the full potential impact of a problem, and for that matter the fix, is properly understood. Sarbanes Oxley is a case in point, which may well have served an immediate requirement, but created enormous confusion and compliance problems and cost to corporate America, and as one writer put it left mid-sized and small companies “stuck like deer in the headlights.”.
“We wish to ensure that the culture of reporting and analysis is a firm feature of our domestic market, and I believe that everyone here today can play a part in making that happen, both as a society, and each in your own capacity within your respective organization,” he added.