Announcement and CALL FOR PAPERS

Symposium on
Protecting the Quality of Canadian Capital Markets -
Governance, Regulation, Accounting and Auditing
in the Post-Enron Era

December 2005

Information is the life blood of capital markets. Information quality is jointly determined by numerous factors, among them the quality of accounting standards, the quality of corporate governance practices, securities regulations and enforcement, and auditing practices.

The Canadian Academic Accounting Association and the University of Waterloo are pleased to announce a symposium to be held in December 2005 in Toronto, Canada. The purpose of the symposium is to consider ways of maintaining or enhancing the quality of information available to Canadian capital markets to maintain the attractiveness of those markets by providing companies with access to capital at a cost that does not carry a heavy risk premium to compensate for information risk. The purpose of the symposium is to consider these factors and if possible to make recommendations on courses of action aimed at ensuring the attractiveness and efficiency of Canadian capital markets. Papers are invited from academe and practice. All research methods and approaches are welcome, but meta-analyses synthesizing extant research and its policy implications for protecting the quality of Canadian capital markets are particularly sought. Papers will be subject to blind review by academics and practitioners. Accepted papers will be published in Canadian Accounting Perspectives journal (CAP) together with discussants’ comments, subject to editorial review and approval. Travel grants will be available for invited presenters. This event is made possible through the generous sponsorship of the Capital Markets Leadership Task Force.

The following issues are suggested for investigation. Research addressing other related issues is also welcome:

• What is the relationship between corporate governance, securities regulation/enforcement, accounting and auditing and access to capital/cost of capital in an economy?

• How do Canadian capital markets compare to other capital markets in terms of the quality of information available to providers of capital and other stakeholders?

• What are the appropriate roles of corporate governance, securities regulation/enforcement, accounting standards and assurance in ensuring that users’ needs for relevant, reliable and useable information are met?

• What is the impact of Sarbanes-Oxley on Canadian capital markets? How should corporate governance in Canada be revised? What are the impacts of recent changes in regulation on the Canadian market place?

• Should governance/regulation/accounting/auditing differently address Big Caps, Mid Caps and Small Caps?

• What is the impact of different levels of regulation in Canada on its capital markets?

• What is the impact of litigation on the voluntary supply of assurance on interim financial statements and reports on internal control?

• What level of regulatory oversight should be provided for information such as future oriented guidance, press releases, MD&A and performance metrics?

• Is there an audit committee expectation gap? Are audit committees being expected to provide extensive oversight of public company financial reporting processes and controls but are not provided with the information required for them to fulfill these expectations?

• Why are there differing views about the importance of interim reporting in different jurisdictions and what interim reporting practices should be in place?

• What changes in accounting and auditing standards and practices would be required to enable quarterly earnings figures to be audited?

• How should reports on internal control be integrated into periodic audit/assurance services?

• What is the role of preparer and issuer competence and integrity in providing high quality information to the capital markets and what factors influence these attributes?

Submissions due Sept 1, 2005
Submitted papers should be at an advanced stage of completion. Authors must adhere to the editorial style of CAP. Please send an electronic copy of the paper to: Professor J. Efrim Boritz, School of Accountancy, University of Waterloo. Email: jeboritz@watarts.uwaterloo.ca

Notice of acceptance or rejection will be sent out by October 15, 2005.

For information please contact Professor J. Efrim Boritz, School of Accountancy, University of Waterloo. Email: jeboritz@watarts.uwaterloo.ca
Tel: (519) 888-4567 ext 5774