"Financial accounting is fairly heavily regulated in Australia. There are numerous Corporations Act requirements, and there are many accounting standards, with additional standards being issued fairly frequently. The ASX provides extensive regulation for listed companies. But is all this regulation really necessary? What if we had no standards, and reporting entities could report what information they wanted in whatever format they considered appropriate?

Opinions on the need for regulation vary, and range from the 'free-market' perspective to the 'pro-regulation' perspective." (Deegan, 2010, p.38)

Required:

Discuss the above quotation. Explain and evaluate the arguments for and against regulation. What is your opinion of the current level of accounting regulation?