ACCOUNTING STANDARDS AND FINANCIAL REPORTS, GUILTY FOR THE ACTUAL CRISIS?

The current financial crisis has started on the US subprime mortgage market in the summer of 2007, reaching unexpected levels by 2008, rapidly spreading all over the world and disrupting the global financial system. The losses sustained by the American financial giants on complex structured securities triggered the collapse of other markets such as the housing market or the auto market. In less than a year, the balance-sheets of the biggest financial companies reported impaired assets and major declines in value due to the lack of liquidity of certain markets or assets. The investors’ confidence in the financial markets and institutions has reached a new historical low and the financial crisis has triggered the economic crisis. This context has lead to strong debates among bankers, insurers, auditors and politicians about whom is to blame for the crisis, but also about finding the solutions for surpassing the crisis and reducing the likelihood that these situations would recur. The paper aims at assessing the role of accounting rules and financial reporting in causing and spreading the current crisis.