Representatives of the AICPA attended a conference with participants from more than 20 accountancy organizations around the world wherein the major topic was to find ways in which the participating organizations could coordinate efforts to produce assurance, consulting, and information technology services to the business community.

The conference was held last week in London and was hosted by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW). Participating organizations included accountancy institutes from Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Scotland, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

The group of accountancy organizations agreed to collaborate on a suite of assurance and consultancy services, including WebTrust and SysTrust.

"The effort of the leading accountancy institutes to coordinate global product development and marketing efforts for innovative, new services like WebTrust and SysTrust facilitates more rapid global marketplace adoption of these services," said Alan Anderson, senior vice president of the AICPA. "Our combined efforts give the worldwide accounting profession a mechanism with which we can keep pace with the globalization of business while developing leading-edge services that meet our clients' needs."