Allfirst accounts “in order”

Conor Keane,

The move last night came as chief executive officers and chief financial officers of 700 of the top US companies raced to meet a deadline to file sworn statements attesting to the accuracy of their financial reports ahead of last night's deadline.

No Irish company has to file under the current order but Irish companies like AIB Bank, Bank of Ireland, CRH, Iona, Parthus Technologies, Riverdeep, Ryanair and Smartforce, who are quoted on US exchanges, may have to follow suit in the months ahead. AIB have already indicated that CEO Michael Buckley and CFO Gerry Kennedy will sign their end-of-year statements to attest to accuracy when they file returns with the SEC.