What's your advice for CFOs—especially those already bogged down with Sarbanes-Oxley regulation?
Think about the objective. Ultimately, there isn't any reason why a transaction in Boston should be accounted for any differently than one in Brussels or Brisbane. And if [they are accounted for in the same way] it's going to open up the capital markets. Say you are on Wall Street, [reviewing] a Dutch company. You'll have other things to think about, but accounting is not going to be one of them. That's going to reduce the cost of capital. That will save a lot of money.
You have called this the "best chance in a generation" to get these standards passed. Is there anything you see that could derail it?
Political pressure. We can't force people to do it. That could destroy [this effort]. But it will happen someday, because the markets want it. And, ultimately, you cannot beat the markets.
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