In recent days, the Bank of England has called for banks to produce more prudent accounts. It is worried that banks’ failure to recognise likely defaults – associated with so-called zombie companies – is holding back lending, and thus growth. Hewlett-Packard’s decision to write off 80 per cent of the value of its 2011 acquisition of Autonomy, the UK software company, highlights the vital role of robust accounts outside the banking sector. We, along with other investors, believe that prudence needs to be restored to accounting in all companies if we are to have confidence in the numbers and to support sustained economic growth.
英國央行(Bank of England)最近呼籲各銀行編制更審慎的會計報表，該行擔心，銀行未能識別可能的違約——與所謂的殭屍企業(zombie companies)有關——會阻礙貸款活動，進而影響經濟成長。惠普(HP)決定將其2011年收購的英國軟體公司Autonomy的資產價值減記80%，突顯出在非銀行業領域穩健報表的重要作用。我們和其他投資者認爲，如果想讓我們相信報表上的數據併爲經濟的持續成長提供支持，審慎原則需要重新回到所有公司的報表上來。