That, at least, might be the result of twin initiatives on standards and on audit oversight, both trailed by EU Commissioner Charlie McCreevy and counterparts in the US last week.

Under the plans for the convergence roadmap, at a special roundtable in Washington a few days ago, the beginning of the end of dual inspections of auditing firms by US and European regulators was announced.

This may seem like cause for celebration given the discomfort many firms have to go through when inspectors do their rounds.

European watchdogs and accountants have become increasingly concerned with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board’s heavy inspection regime, which has inefficiency by duplicating work.

The PCAOB’s chairman Mark Olson and the EU Commissioner Charlie McCreevy, have agreed that regulators on both sides of the atlantic should push for finalisation of the convergence process by 2009.

The move is the first step of many, since EU rules are set to require EU regulators to do what the PCAOB has been doing and go abroad to run the rule over foreign auditors from a total of 60 countries with companies listed in London.

The convergence of standards was also on the agenda last week. Currently, foreign companies that list shares for trading in the United States convert their financial results to conform to US GAAP and European regulators have said that, similarly, they may eventually require US companies to reconcile their results to the new international standards.