The demise of Enron will call for changes in legislation and regulation, not only in the United States but also on a global and regional scale. These changes will require to be designed and implemented with the utmost urgency. More importantly, the changes will need to be practical and effective, if we are to regain the confidence of investors and employees.

The adequacy of skill and experience of Boards of Directors, effectiveness of governance structures and systems, which include Audit Committees, will increasingly be questioned. Accounting and Auditing firms, will be challenged, to objectively review and strengthen their quality control procedures, to match professional knowledge and skill with complexities of assignments and to demonstrate that they work with the highest levels of independence, objectivity and integrity. The Chief Financial Officers, Corporate Secretaries, Corporate Legal Officers and outside Legal Counsel will require to perform their roles with far greater professionalism and vigilance. But let me also add, that those who monitor Corporates from the outside, such as Financial Analysts, Stock Brokers and Credit Rating Agencies, will require to strengthen their independence, deploy appropriate skills, and enhance the depth and breadth of their analysis, if they are to be respected by those who depend upon them.

In the aftermath of the East Asian Financial Crisis, Western nations in particular and corporate leaders, regulators, scholars and authors of the West, were critical of the East and South East Asian nations, their statutory and regulatory systems, the auditing profession in these countries, accounting and auditing standards and compliance therewith. Their criticism was liberal and in many respects justified. But what is more important I think is whether regulators, professions and corporate Boards of even the developed nations in the West, are yet as vigilant as the global society inherently expects them to be.

One might argue however and quite correctly, that systems and procedures, legislation and regulation, alone, will not always be potent enough to prevent a major corporate collapse. A necessary ingredient then is ethics and discipline.

Personal values and corporate values of the highest acceptable level must converge and become the driving philosophy by which we live and work. In essence there has to be a restoration of values. I believe that it is possible to realize a vision of a far more respected environment of corporate values, professional values and personal values.

We would be naïve of course, if we expect changes overnight, but I submit that we would be irresponsible, if each one of us institutionally and individually does not incrementally and progressively work towards that desirable new frontier of superior business performance driven by good governance, simultaneously with a robust and respected profession driven by ethics and discipline.

Over time, the collective endeavours of business and the profession will contribute towards sustainability of business, respectability of our profession and stability of families and homes. The collapse of the economies of nations such as what happened 4 years ago in East and South East Asia, or the collapse of corporates such as what happened in none other than North America, a few months ago, can be disruptive. It can devastate what otherwise could have been only a continuation of a simple and less than extravagant life style .for many who are less privileged than those at the higher levels of governance who are typically better cushioned to absorb the shock and disruptions these events bring. It is this segment of society that I particularly wish to identify and empathize with, since it is only through them that we realize the gravity of the implications of sub par professionalism or poor governance.

As a Regional Organization, we must, together with our member bodies and on behalf of our 700,000 plus membership, work together with the other Regional

Organizations in the Americas, Europe and Africa, as well as with IFAC, the IASB, IFAD and the Multilateral Funding agencies and Regional Development Banks, the UN and related bodies who are already working with IFAD, in order to collectively build a robust and sustainable future for business and the profession.