Corporate boards say a proposed new accounting standard, known as FRS17, risks making final salary schemes too expensive.

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In Britain, listed companies have until 2005 to adopt FRS17, a new accounting standard that forces firms to show in their accounts any movements in the value of their pension funds.

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The goal of developing a single international accounting standard is not entirely new--in fact, it dates back to 1973, when the International Accounting Standards Committee (now the International Accounting Standards Board) developed a set of standards to be used worldwide.

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Just a few pages later we hear from Ken Lay, the CEO of Enron who died in 2006 shortly before being sentenced for securities fraud connected to the most well-known financial fraud of the decade, which set a new standard for creative criminal accounting.

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FRS17 accounting standard, according to new figures this week from the regulator.

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