economic environment, our nation can best provide small businesses and entrepreneurs with the support they need to expand job opportunities. small businesses also help our country compete globally ; they often offer a level of agility in bringing innovative products to the global marketplace that larger firms cannot match. at home, many entrepreneurs do more than provide important goods and services – they and their businesses help sustain the vitality of the neighborhoods in which they live and work. frequently, small business owners demonstrate their commitment to their communities by serving in leadership positions in local schools, volunteering for local nonprofit organizations, and engaging in civic affairs. more information on “ addressing the needs of small businesses, ” held july 12, 2010, is available on the board ’ s website at www. federalreserve. gov / newsevents / conferences / asfbconf. htm. bis central bankers ’ speeches for many people, starting a small business is an opportunity to follow one ’ s particular dream. we should recognize that it can also be an important option for people confronting economic challenges in their lives, such as insufficient retirement savings. a study conducted by the kauffman foundation suggests that both baby boomers and older generations are increasingly turning to entrepreneurial activities. 2 tomorrow ’ s discussion will pay special attention to how these and other new entrepreneurs are adjusting to the changing landscape of financial services. federal reserve efforts to support small businesses the federal reserve system is committed to supporting small business and entrepreneurship. we do that, for example, through research that adds to our stock of knowledge about the catalysts for and barriers to entrepreneurship, and through outreach programs to help small business owners and other community stakeholders gain access to a range of financing and technical assistance. for instance, in a recent forum sponsored by the federal reserve system and held in jacksonville, florida, both small business owners and their lenders stressed that it takes more than an enterprising spirit to succeed ; entrepreneurs also must seek appropriate training and resources. forum participants emphasized the need to support organizations that offer valuable technical assistance and training programs, including state and regional economic development offices, small business development centers, community colleges, technical schools, and rural cooperative extension offices. similar forums in chicago, atlanta, and denver – conducted by the federal reserve in cooperation with the opportunity finance network, a national trade association for community development financial institutions ( cdfis ) – highlighted examples of banks working closely with community development loan funds and other cdfis to streamline client referral processes to match small businesses

first to take a few steps back, before work starts on re - engineering the standard. i believe that many of those interested in the debate would be supportive of this approach. we perhaps need to look again at the process for considering, and reaching a conclusion about, the fundamental “ design parameters ” some of which i have touched on today. this is no small task, but if agreement could be reached on the fundamentals, these could be stated as clear principles in a preamble to any new standard, to guide the more detailed requirements. and it might enable the widely - held vision of a less detailed and prescriptive standard to be realised, to replace the hundreds of pages of complex rules. to address this, however, raises three questions : ( i ) on what is early consensus necessary? ( ii ) how should the transition be approached? and ( iii ) what does this mean in institutional terms? early consensus early agreement seems to me particularly important in three areas. the first is to review the conventional understanding on who the accounts are for, and clarify how the different interests of different stakeholders are to be met. the second is to agree where the standard should be placed along the spectrum between historic cost and fair value measurement. a particularly difficult conceptual question in this area is : precisely what economic meaning is there in so - called fair valuation of instruments in which ( a ) there is little or no secondary market, or ( b ) there is a market, but a clear intent to hold an instrument to maturity? finally, the implications of any increase in measured volatility will need to be assessed. here, i see a need for a process of communication and education by companies and others to shareholders, analysts and other interested parties, which should form part of the transition to any new standard. transitional considerations once the above objectives have been agreed, it will be important to articulate where we are, and where we want to be, and then to identify the optimal migration path. is it to be a gradual transition or a big bang? such decisions would need to consider : the rapidly moving environment of the financial industry, and regulatory techniques ; how to ensure comparability is maintained ; and the costs, especially in system terms, of alternative migration paths. procedures for setting international accounting standards a final issue concerns the procedures for setting accounting standards. concerns have been expressed by some about whether public sector interests, in particular, are adequately represented in the process. there is of course a clear public interest in