The South Eastern European Partnership on Accountancy Development (SEEPAD) met in March 2000 in Sofia, Bulgaria to discuss legal and regulatory frameworks and private/public partnerships in South Eastern Europe (SEE). The event, organised by the Institute of Certified Public Accountants in Bulgaria, and sponsored by the OECD and USAID, forms part of the South East Compact for Reform, Investment, Integrity and Growth Under the EU Stability Pact - Working Table II.

The objective of the 1st SEEPAD meeting was to examine the legal and regulatory frameworks in South Eastern Europe, and discuss the responsibility of the accountancy associations and the public sector in regulating the profession. The main topics under discussion included the role of disclosure in strengthening corporate governance; the status of accounting and audit legislation and regulation in SEE; and the roles of the public and private sectors in (i) developing legislative and regulatory frameworks, (ii) standard setting, and (iii) enhancing and maintaining the quality of the profession.

The meeting produced a set of resolutions, in addition to a comparative overview of fundamental accountancy issues (see below), based on a questionnaire developed by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

Materials

Opening presentation, by Stilpon Nestor, Head of the Corporate Affairs Division, OECD

-Questionnaire on the Accountancy Sector, developed by UNCTAD's Intergovernmental Working Group of Experts on International Standards of Accounting and Reporting (ISAR)

-Albanian Status Report on Accountancy Reform

-The Accounting Law of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina

-The Law on Auditing of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina

-Audit Law for the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia

Statute of the Association of Accountants, Financial Workers and Auditors of the Republic of Macedonia