Defining the Roles of Accountants, Bankers and Regulators in the United States.

Abstract The article presents information on the report "Defining the Roles of Accountants, Bankers and Regulators in the United States." The report is concerned with the roles of bank examiners as they relate to evaluating bank soundness and with the costs of bank supervision, primarily those imposed by federal regulators. It concludes that the regulatory system is out of balance, emphasizing protection of the deposit insurance fund at the expense of the credit function and overall competitiveness. Three changes are proposed to deal with the situation: closer cooperation among Certified Public Accountants, regulators and bankers to improve the quality of financial reporting and supervision; elimination of unnecessary overlap among the three groups; and a reduction in mistrust. Banks were required to publish balance sheets and were subject to on-site examinations virtually from their beginnings in the United States. In large measure, examinations of bank soundness were designed to insure the value of bank notes, which until 1913, served as the nation's circulating currency.