Professor Andrew Chambers, chair of ACCA's corporate governance technical committee, also commented on the recently published Walker Report on bank governance.

In her keynote to delegates, Helen Brand, ACCA chief executive, said that it was encouraging to see that many of the issues addressed in ACCA's policy paper The Future of Financial Regulation had already been adopted by policymakers.

The paper, published in June 2009, analysed the factors that contributed to the financial crisis and identified principles ACCA believes should be reflected in the future design and administration of regulatory systems in the financial and business sectors.

'We particularly welcome the fact that calls for an international super-regulator in Europe have been dropped and that, instead, a systemic risk body along the lines of the European Systemic Risk Board (ESRB) will be created,' said Helen.

'There are areas, notably on ethics, where ACCA still believes considerable progress needs to be made and we look forward to seeing specific proposals to turn the G20's  exhortation of the promotion of integrity in financial institutions into reality.

'This would do much to enhance the effectiveness of regulation.'

Download ACCA's policy paper, The Future of Financial Regulation