By: Sylvia Meljem
At the same time that globalization is found in every corner of the world, the issue of national and international standards convergence becomes more relevant every day. Almost in all the capital markets convergence towards a set of generally accepted accounting and auditing standards is actively discussed. The contribution of these standards shall be to reduce vulnerability and to strengthen accountability in all the accounting information systems, specially in the securities market, where public companies are listed.
Ethics: Standards and Dwell
By: Yanira Petrides
A daily characteristic of professional accountants’ life is ethics; a commitment demanded every single day to the professional at the service of public interest. However, ethics is a permanent challenge, not only in times of crisis and scandals, but also when there is relative calm.
The word “ethics” comes from the Greek word “???? ethos” that means “habit, custom, practice”. In the introduction of the book “Ethos, destiny of man”, Juliana González explains that the Greek word “ethos” can be spelled in a different way and therefore accepts more than one meaning (González, 1986). And she continues if we write the word ethos with its first letter “? eta” instead of the letter “? epsilon”, according to González it would mean something like “dwell”, which can be read whether external – like the house in which you live – or internal – as a way of being, in essence the “character”. And it is, like a way of being how profession accountants live ethics: as a lair that gives us security, prestige, and also a way to service the public interest.
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