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A conference organised jointly by the European Commission and the Fédération des Experts Comptables Européens (FEE) yesterday concluded that International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSASs) were essential to the development and strengthening of financial reporting by governments. David Devlin, president of FEE, the representative body of the European accountancy profession, said: ?Across Europe the public sector is responsible for about 40% of GDP. Hence, as the public sector moves from cash-based reporting to the introduction of accruals accounting, robust standards oriented to the circumstances of the public sector are essential. The International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) has developed a set of high quality standards to allow sound financial reporting by governments.?

SGCIB is on the hunt for finance executives as it looks to expand its high yield finance business in Europe over the coming months, focusing on the areas of media telecoms and leveraged finance. The high yield market in Europe hit a record high in 2003 at a value of ?16.3 billion and given monetary policy across the EU, declining default rates and a slowdown in the deterioration of credit quality, the prospects for 2004 are looking just as good.

Sallie Krawcheck, previously the head of Citigroup's private equity arm Smith Barney, has been made Citigroup's new CFO.

Cable telecoms companies in Europe have reached an optimum level of leverage after the last two years of restructuring, according to a special report from rating agency Moody's.

CFOs in the USare bullish over economic prospects and their own companies' financial prospects. This, despite continuing high oil prices, increases in health care costs and added costs incurred as companies continue to invest in business continuity plans to combat to possible terrorist attacks.

ABN Amro has warned that most UK companies are unaware of the impact that the EU Pensions Directive will have on their finances. The Directive, which comes into force a year from today, sets out a new regulatory framework for defined benefit pension schemes. The Directive requires that companies have sufficient ?technical provisions? ? enough money to provide for the pension scheme benefit payments. The directive also stipulates that, should deficits arise, they must be removed over a ?limited? period.

Islamic bonds, known as sukuks, have more than doubled their share of the Gulf bond market from 14% to 32%, according to international law firm Trowers & Hamlins (T&M). The State of Qatar's Global Sukuk issue, which closed in October 2003, was so popular that its size was increased from $500 million to $700 million, while the Dubai's Department of Civil Aviation recently announced the biggest ever sukuk issue, amounting to $750 million.

Anglo Irish Bank launched and priced its second record-breaking regulatory capital issue today, the largest ever Irish tier 1 bond to be sold to retail and private banking investors.

Jeroen van Gelderen has joined Nordic Financial Systems (NFS), the provider of technical and business integration services to the treasury industry. He joins the company having established a solid track record as senior treasury consultant at Zanders and Partners. In his new role as business manager one of his main jobs will be helping NFS clients deal with the challenges posed by IAS39 compliance. In 2001, the European Commission proposed that, by January 2005, all EU listed companies prepare their financial statements using IAS39 accounting standards in order to ensure transparency and credibility.

As former Enron senior executives Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling came to trial this month, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act itself has come under scrutiny. At a hearing of a US Senate Committee focusing on accounting and regulatory standards, Paul Sarbanes defended the report he co-authored, arguing that good corporate governance practice was profitable as well as ethical.

Hendrik Hilgert has become head of Citigroup's mergers and acquisitions team in Germany in a move that some say is the first in a line of defections from German banks.

The European Commission has announced it intends to review the EU Banking Directive in the next few months in order to open up cross-border banking mergers.