The language of accounting is subject to continuous change. One of the reasons for a change in terminology is the introduction of new legal requirements that bring about a change in the underlying concepts and therefore the need for new specific terms. Such a situation was created by the Regulation (EC) No. 1606/2002 on the application of international accounting standards (IAS). This regulation aims at harmonising ac-counting standards and procedures relating to the preparation and presentation of financial statements. It requires all EU companies listed on a regulated stock market to prepare accounts in accordance with IAS for accounting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2005. We look at the texts of the mentioned regulation in several EU languages in order to identify changes regarding the designations of individual items of financial state-ments compared with the traditional terms and to find out whether the changes found differ from language to language. Then we choose the frequently used accounting term property, plant and equipment and compare financial statements published by large companies over a four-year period beginning in 2004 to find out whether there are changes in terminology in the year 2005, i.e. when listed companies were first re-quired to prepare their financial statements in accordance with IAS. / Series: WU Online Papers in International Business Communication Series Two: Business and Economic Terminology

Green Building Councils (GBCs) have been established in many different countries in recent years. This paper discusses the role such organizations can play in the respective construction and real estate industry and under what circumstances a GBC can contribute positively to the development of a "greener" or "more sustainable" stock of buildings. The paper investigates the main informational problem of the industry by looking at the relation between a developer and an investor from an economic point of view. We argue that the investor's uncertainty about the true quality of a building and the corresponding incentive for the developer to cheat may lock them into a prisoners' dilemma trap. The corresponding barriers for a transition toward a "greener" buildings market are analyzed. GBCs are described as institutions of economic governance that can assist the economy in overcoming these problems. They can act as third party institutions in transactions between developers and investors. By certifying the quality of a building, they can reduce the risk for the investor to be cheated by the developer and also increase the incentive to develop good quality buildings for the developer. This task, however, raises some severe management challenges for the GBCs. (author's abstract) / Series: SRE - Discussion Papers