Editorial

Pauline Wallace's name is well known in the world of accounting but for those that do not know her (and for those who do but know less about the role she is now performing) this issue provides the chance to find out more. Ms Wallace is currently the chair of the UK Endorsement Board (UKEB) and over the course of an hour-long interview, she explains what the board is, how it operates and how it came about that the UKEB is now the UK's representative on the IASB's Accounting Standards Advisory Forum (ASAF), replacing the FRC. The UKEB takes into account many of the same factors as EFRAG when considering whether to endorse a standard, but one important difference is that UK legislation requires it to consider the effect of the standard on the UK's "long-term public good", whereas European Union law requires EFRAG to consider the effect of the standard on European public good, without specification of the time period to be applied. Ms Wallace highlights this difference as an important one when weighing up the costs and benefits of a standard since costs of implementation, which can often be significant, tend to be short-term, whereas benefits often arise over the longer term. Although the UKEB's focus is on the impact of proposed standards from the perspective of the UK, its stakeholders include large global companies, audit firms and international investors. Thus, its decisions have a broad impact. Another point that Ms Wallace makes in the interview is that she is a strong advocate of international standards; it can be inferred that the UK would not deviate from them lightly.