Accounting Standards were one main of the focus points in the international discussions that took place during and immediately after the Great Financial crisis. Opposition between methods of valuation of financial intermediaries’ assets and, more broadly, the discrepancies between the US GAAP and the IFRS that prevailed in Europe were seen as key to the difficulties policymakers as well as professionals, not to mention the general public, had to understand how risks built up in the financial sector and the speed at which the crisis propagated across financial institutions and across countries. In particular, the procyclicality of mark to market valuation methods has been addressed as a critical flaw in the aftermath of the financial crisis.

Yet, this topic quickly disappeared from the radar screen of nonspecialized fora and publications.

10 years after the financial crisis erupted, as some central banks are preparing to unwind their ultra accomodative policies, it is high time to unearth the conversation on this issue. We have to this aim gathered two of the most eminent specialists in the field.

The questions to be raised are numerous. Among them:

- Has progress been made during the last decade in the transnational harmonization of accounting standards?

- Have accounting standards improved over the past 10 years?

- How do these standards reflect the current uncertainty about valuation of equity, as well as debt and financial derivatives?