ACCA looks forward to constructive dialogue with European Commission on audit

Lessons have to be learned, and time is right to re-examine the role of statutory audit for a sustainable future, says the global accountancy body

ACCA is aware of the widespread speculation concerning the forthcoming announcement by the European Commission of its future legislative proposal on statutory audit.
However, while ACCA will not make any formal public comment on the Commission's proposals until they are actually made, we have, during the process of consultation which has already taken place, made clear our position regarding the future of audit policy in Europe.
'We agree with the Commission that the time is right for all parties with an interest in audit to re-examine the role of statutory audit in the light of our collective experience of the financial crisis. We support the Commission's project to review all aspects of existing law and regulatory practice with the aim of learning lessons from that experience. While we accept that there are lessons to be learned, our position is that we continue to believe strongly in the value of audit as a tool which can provide material benefits to companies and their various stakeholders and are keen to ensure that the value of audit is maintained and enhanced in the years to come', says John Davies, head of Technical at ACCA.
ACCA accepts that maintaining and enhancing the value of audit may mean making significant changes to how audits are currently conducted and regulated. We have ourselves promoted the idea that the scope of audit needs to be expanded so as to take on more responsibilities which are likely to make a real difference to shareholders and regulators, such as reporting on how companies manage their strategic risks.
John Davies explains: 'We share the Commission's concerns about concentration in the listed company audit market and believe that changes should be made to the audit environment to encourage greater involvement on the part of smaller firms in listed company audit work. We also fully endorse the Commission's goal of improving audit quality and accept that integral to that goal must be to address issues relating to independence, objectivity and professional scepticism.'
'In pursuing these ambitions, however, we believe it is important to ensure that we do not resort to inflexible and bureaucratic measures which risk creating practical problems within the corporate sector and which could even prove counter-productive in terms of their effects on audit quality. Crucially, whatever arrangements are eventually adopted to replace the current Directive should, in our view, focus on outcomes as much as procedures', he adds.
'ACCA looks forward to the publication of the European Commission's plans in November and to engaging in a constructive dialogue on them, both with the EU executive and the co-legislators. With this in mind, ACCA is organising a round table meeting on the issue in Brussels in early December', John Davies concludes.
source ACCA Global 

Audit changes must be meaningful not superficial warns ACCA

Audit changes must be meaningful not superficial warns ACCA

International inquiries into role of audit raise concerns

ACCA, in a policy paper Audit under fire: a review of the post-financial crisis inquiries, addresses the issues which have been raised during investigations by the UK House of Lords, the European Commission and the US senate. In Singapore and elsewhere, regulators are also actively engaged in stakeholder consultations to assess how audit can be enhanced. The EC has promised legislative changes by the end of 2011.

Arif Masud Mirza, Head of ACCA Pakistan said: "Audit is under unprecedented scrutiny in the UK, Brussels and the US, following the global financial crisis. We have already had the European Commission promising that 'the status quo is not an option'. In this paper we examine the various proposals put forward in the course of these inquiries and set out some recommendations for positive reform. Audit plays a vital role in the global economy by instilling trust in company reporting and we believe it needs to be enhanced for the greater benefit of investors and business.

"But it is essential that the changes made add value and are not motivated by the need to be seen as 'doing something'. Any changes need to meet an appropriate public interest test. Some of the suggestions that have been mooted during the various inquiries, would be, we believe, ineffective and costly."

Several recurring themes have emerged from the various inquiries including audit concentration, going concern issues, joint audits, mandatory audit rotation and the effect of International Financial Reporting Standards. ACCA is concerned that the political imperative for visible change may result in the wrong measures being adopted.

Arif Mirza concluded: "Policymakers and legislators have had every right to ask tough questions of auditors in the aftermath of the financial crisis. We believe enhancements to the role of audit can and should be made. But the changes which ultimately arrive as a result of all the inquiries need to bring real benefit and not be costly tinkering."