Euro - Shared scheme to wake up sleepers

The accounting profession is to develop a scheme to ensure ‘high-quality information’ is available about the euro.

The initiative, which will be run in conjunction with the Treasury, mirrors a similar scheme drawn up by the British Bankers’ Association. It follows a Treasury survey of small and medium-sized businesses which showed that one in ten was unaware that the single currency will be launched next year.

Euro project controller for the European accounting body FEE, Noel Hepworth, said the scheme was still in its early stages and it remained to be seen how it would work. He added: ‘We are keen for the profession to be active in this area.’

The approval scheme was announced by chancellor Gordon Brown last week as part of a detailed response to concerns raised by the Commons Treasury committee over the level of ignorance among UK businesses about the euro.

Brown also said that changes would be made to the accounting regulations that govern insurance companies, after the euro is introduced into the UK. The Association of British Insurers played down the impact the likely changes would have, however.

‘People have been dealing with different currencies for years and the principles behind this would not be any different in regards to the mechanisms of accounting,’ said ABI head of legal and fiscal affairs David Leighton.