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Introduction
In this work of assessment I am going to show that some of the multinational
enterprises argued that the lack of financial report user comprehension and information
overload are two justifiable excuses for nondisclosure of certain information in financial
reports.

A financial statement (or financial report) is a formal record of the financial

activities of a business, person, or other entity. A financial statement is often referred to
as an account, although the term financial statement is also used, particularly by
accountants.

For a business enterprise, all the relevant financial information, presented in a

structured manner and in a form easy to understand, are called the financial statements.
They typically include four basic financial statements, accompanied by a management
discussion and analysis:

Balance sheet: also referred to as statement of financial situation or state, reports on a

company's assets, liabilities, and Ownership equity at a given point in time.

Income statement: also referred to as Profit and Loss statement (or a "P&L"), reports on
a company's income, expenses, and profits over a period of time. Profit & Loss account
provide information on the operation of the enterprise. These include sale and the various
expenses incurred during the processing state.

Statement of retained earnings: explains the changes in a company's retained earnings

over the reporting period.

Statement of cash flows: reports on a company's cash flow activities, particularly its
operating, investing and financing activities.

Importance of financial reports: Financial statements are useful, because they

show the financial condition of a company at a given period. There are many types of
financial statements uses and purposes, measuring different financial aspects of the
company. They can be used for both internal-, and external uses.

Financial report provides information that indicates the health of the company. For
example, what's the cash flow, what's on the balance sheet, debts, assets etc.

It is important for customers because customers would like to do business with

companies who will stick around to provide on going support and services. Just think that
if Microsoft is going out of business next year, you probably don't want to buy a
computer running their operation system.

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Lacking in the financial reports: The lack of transparency of company accounts

and reports is a major issue in many countries around the world consistent with the
growing need to attract and retain foreign capital and facilitate capital raisings
internationally so there is a growing pressure around the world to promote greater
transparency and disclosure consistent with the importance of cross border capital risings
and the growth of world trade and investment. A disclosure regulation varies
internationally, and there is often a lack of transparency, especially in the emerging
economies.

Many MNEs are unwilling to disclosure additional information; a growing

number of major MNEs are more enlightened and often perceive it to be in their interest
to make voluntary disclosure likely to be relevant to external stakeholders, particularly
investors.

Western regulatory systems:

International Accounting Standards Board (IASB)

The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) is an independent,

privately-funded accounting standard-setter based in London, England.

The IASB was founded on April 1, 2001 as the successor to the International Accounting
Standards Committee (IASC). It is responsible for developing International Financial
Reporting Standards (the new name for International Accounting Standards issued after
2001), and promoting the use and application of these standards.

In April 2001, the International Accounting Standards Committee Foundation

(IASCF), since renamed as the IFRS Foundation, was formed as a not-for-profit
corporation incorporated in the US state of Delaware.

The IASB Committee was established in 1973 by leading professional

organizations in Australia, Canada, Germany, Ireland, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands,
UK and US. As of 2000, the IASC had a membership comprising 143 organizations from
104 countries, including the founder members, including the founder members, most of
who maintained membership of the governing board and thus retained a significant
measure of influence.

In comparison to the members of the UN, it was clear that the membership of the IASC
had tendency of a professional accountancy organization something that has often been
outside the experience of socialist and emerging economies. The 14 board members
represents diverters backgrounds with 5 auditors, 3 preparers, 3 users, 1 academic and 2
other are the details of these board members.

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The prime objectives of the IASB are

1. Formulation and publishing of the reports in the public interest and accounting
standards to be observed in the presentation of financial statements to promote their
worldwide acceptance and observance.

2. The improvement and harmonization of regulations of accounting standards and

procedures related to the presentation of financial statements.

In comparison to that, the IASC made remarkable progress towards its goal of
achieving worldwide agreement on accounting standards since its development in 1973,
showed the different cultures and accounting traditions which are observed in countries
around the world for centuries as the newly established IASB entreated 2001,and it was a
remarkable new period of global standard- setting as a restructured, independent
standard setter that has widespread support from government, standard setting agencies,
securities commission, and professional accounting associations worldwide.

In May 2000 the IASB has received an endorsement from the International
Organization of security Commission (IOSCO) following completion in
December 1998 of a core set standards as agreed on with IOSCO in 1995
(IOSCO, 2000a).
In the 1995 agreement between IASB and IOSCO followed growing recognition
of the need for global accounting standards that could be used for cross border listing and
national listings alike.
The Asian financial crisis also reveled some problems caused by a lack of
confidence in accounting in the countries which created pressure for the adoption of a set
of globally recognized standards.
Apart from this the IASB still facing major obstacles in achieving their goal of
worldwide recognition and acceptance of IFRS and their effective use in general.

Organization for Economic Cooperation & Development (OECD)

The OECD has a limited membership of countries than the

UNs, With only 30 member countries, which is different to the UN’s more than 190
countries,

The OECD represents the Western group of nations which includes Australia,
Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Netherlands UK and the US. These countries are home
for most of the world’s MNEs.

In 1976, following consultations with business and trade union welfare, a set of
Guidelines for multinational Enterprises was approved with the aim of intensification
confidence between MNEs and governments and to meet criticisms about the MNEs
activities.

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The guidelines are described as a set of principles or recommendation covering a

board range of issue in business morals designed to prevent misunderstanding and build
an atmosphere of confidence and predictability” (OECD, Policy brief, and June 2003).
The indentation was to encourage the positive contributions of MNEs to encourage the
positive contributions of MNEs to economic growth and social progress while
minimizing or resolving problems.

Governments agreed to recommend these guidelines, which related to

Financing, taxation, competition and industrial relations, as well as information
disclosure to MNEs. In practice, however only a handful of MNEs appear to have taken
serious notice of the guidelines. Further studies have been made on topics such as
consolidations, segmental disclosures and intangible assets. In general terms, it seems
that the OECD aims to work towards promoting international understanding and
agreement on a variety of issues as a basis for improving the comparability and
coordination of accounting and reporting standards. Today there is growing evidence that
the guidelines are becoming more of an international standard.

A research by the OECD shows that companies mention the guidelines as often
as they refer to other major corporate responsibility initiatives. In addition, the 37
adjoining governments and the European Commission have worked to further promote
the guidelines through conference, mailing and concrete measures. The strategy continues
to be nonbinding but many governments have committed to promote their observance and
execution.

Transparency and disclosure:

Transparency and disclosure in a MNEs annual report is an important factor for

their financial statement. In Addition to that this information provides a enhanced
understanding of the activities and their future effects on MNEs which can be beneficial
to analyze and evaluate the quality of earnings and financial position. MNEs do not want
to disclose all the details because they have feared that their shareholders will gradually
withdraw their shares from the business. So the government of these countries has a
different unit or authorities solve these problems.

Governments have authority to get information from MNEs, and companies can
also disclose their information to the print media or on the company’s website so that
general public can access the information.

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Conclusion:
So according to this we can say that the governments and boards can make a
universal standards for all the nations of this world to avoid all the frauds, economic
crisis, economic falls and recession and companies can also provide a better and fair
reports and statements/information to their companions and their governments and it
should be advantageous for the companies, their shareholders and as well as for their
governments.

Introduction
In this work of assessment I am going to show that how segment reporting is a
better provider of information in comparison to consolidated financial statements and
also will see that it is acceptable or not.

Consolidated Financial Statements

The combined financial statements of a parent company and its subsidiaries

means consolidated financial statements present an aggregated look at the financial
position of a parent and its subsidiaries, they enable you to gauge the overall health of an
entire group of companies as opposed to one company's stand alone position.

In consolidated financial statements, all subsidiaries should be listed as well as the

amount of ownership (controlling interest) that the parent company has in the subsidiary
companies. Any items within the financial statements that are valuated by estimation
should be part of the Notes to Financial Statements if a substantial difference exists
between the amount of the estimate previously reported and the amount of the actual
results. Full disclosure of the effects of the differences between the estimate and the
actual results should be in the note.

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