Abstract
Originally, one major concept was stressed in the United Kingdom: the ‘true and fair view' in financial reporting. This concept was so popular that it even overrode the little regulation that existed then. In recent years, the increase in accounting regulation started to put in jeopardy the status of this concept. Indeed, one may think that true and fair no longer serves a useful purpose as it reflects and is defined only by the rules set. Had it not been for its symbolic role, this principle would have disappeared; still it remains very vivid in British accounting. The notion of a true and fair view has always been central in British accounting. Indeed, in 1947, following the tradition of ‘full and fair' statements in the 1844 Join stock Companies Act or ‘true and correct' requirements issued in 1900, the Companies Act stated that financial reporting should give a ‘true and fair view' of financial statements.
