Includes bibliographical references and index.

Three Tiers / Bethann B. Brault (Executive Director, Genesis Park (United States)), Hans J. C. A. Gortemaker (Eurofirm Leader, Assurance & Business Advisory Services (Netherlands)), Rodger G. Hughes (United Kingdom Leader, Assurance & Business Advisory Services (United Kingdom)), Jorge R. Manoel (South and Central America Theatre Leader, Assurance & Business Advisory Services (Brazil)), John J. O'Connor (United States Leader, Assurance & Business Advisory Services (United States)), John G. Thorn (Asia Pacific Theatre Leader, Assurance & Business Advisory Services (Australia)) -- Accounting Standards / William E. Decker (Global Leader, Global Capital Markets Group (United States)), Robert H. Herz (Retired Partner (United States)), E. Mary Keegan (Chairman, United Kingdom Accounting Standards Board and former PricewaterhouseCoopers Partner (United Kingdom)) -- Industry Standards / Willem L. J. Brocker (Managing Partner, Global Markets (Netherlands)), J. Frank Brown (Global Leader, Assurance & Business Advisory Services (United States)) -- Good Management / Ian Coleman (Global Leader, Valuation and Strategy (United Kingdom)), Brian J. Kinman (United States Champion, ValueReporting (United States)), Juan A. Pujadas (Global and United States Global Risk Management Solutions Financial Services Leader (United States)) -- Corporate Reporting / Sung-Sik Hwang (Asia Pacific Theatre Champion, ValueReporting (South Korea)), David M. H. Phillips (European Theatre Champion, ValueReporting (United Kingdom)), Lisa J. Stewart (Australia Champion, ValueReporting (Australia)) -- The Internet / Eric E. Cohen (XBRL Technical Leader (United States)), Bruno Tesniere (PricewaterhouseCoopers Global XBRL Co-Leader (Belgium)), R. Michael Willis (Founding XBRL Chairman and PricewaterhouseCoopers Global XBRL Co-Leader (United States)) -- Future Audits / Richard R. Kilgust (Global and United States Public Policy and Regulatory Leader (United States)), Ellen H. Masterson (Global and United States Assurance Methodology Leader and Global Leader, ValueReporting (United States)).

There is a crisis in corporate reporting: the Enron bankruptcy; the shattering of a prestigious global accounting firm; criminal and civil litigation against management, financial institutions, and law firms; stock market volatility caused by repeated restatements and uneasy investors -- add to this angry U.S. congressional hearings, pressure on and by the Securities and Exchange Commission, and talk of new rules and new regulatory bodies. The impact is global. There are no walls or oceans around this crisis: it affects the entire world's capital markets, investors, and economies. Why has this happened? What must we do? What insights and innovations will prevent future financial disasters? The worlds of finance and investment need answers. The investing public demands them.

In this important new book, written as these events have unfolded, the CEO of PricewaterhouseCoopers and a former Harvard Business School professor put before us their recommendations for addressing the crisis. Take the journey with them, from pioneering concepts to pioneering technology. Their views build on a decade of research, analysis, and dialogue with business leaders assembled by a team of the profession's finest thinkers. The time is ripe for change. What is needed is an entirely new level of clarity and relevance. To this end, DiPiazza and Eccles propose a Three-Tier Model of Corporate Transparency that draws from the best thinking and practices worldwide. And there is a technology enabler that can help us get there: the authors show that this twenty-first-century style of reporting is a perfect fit for new Internet/XBRL technology.

This is the book we were waiting for. The blueprint for the future of corporate reporting is in these pages. Committed to quality, clarity, and relevance in corporate reporting, now and in the future, PricewaterhouseCoopers shares its thinking in a time of crisis and renewal. Building Public Trust: The Future of Corporate Reporting continues and deepens thinking first presented in another book from PricewaterhouseCoopers and John Wiley & Sons: The ValueReporting Revolution: Moving Beyond the Earnings Game, by Robert G. Eccles, Robert H. Herz, E. Mary Keegan, and David M. H. Phillips.