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20 December 2010

FEE debated stakeholders’ expectations from statutory audit


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FEE organised a seminar on stakeholders’ expectations from statutory audit on the occasion of its General Assembly. The accountancy profession welcomes this constructive dialogue with high-level representatives and sees it as an essential step in continuing to enhance audit value.


The seminar started discussing the views of enterprises, investors, lenders and creditors, as the primary user of audit services with contributions from Philippe de Buck, Director General of Businesseurope, Javier Echarri, Secretary General of the European Private Equity and Venture Capital Association and Gérard Gil, Deputy Chief Financial Officer of BNP Paribas. The seminar examined the regulators’ demands with keynote presentations from Jonathan Faull, Director General, European Commission, Internal Market and Services, Hans Hoogervorst, Chairman of the Technical Committee of the International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) and Richard Fleck, Chairman of the Auditing Practices Board (UK – APB).

The seminar follows up from the Commission’s Green Paper on Audit Policy. In its response to the Commission, FEE shared the objective of reassessing and enhancing the value of audit and already indicated a number of proposals that would contribute to that end, including, for instance, the EU adoption of international standards in the fields of auditing, quality control and ethics.

FEE supported the further development of multi-disciplinary audit firms to secure high-quality human resources and properly advise businesses and public authorities, more communication between external auditors, internal auditors and the audit committee or supervisory board, and, in regulated industries, better three-way communication between external auditors, supervisors and the business.

FEE agreed that the role of the auditor can be expanded in the future and noted in particular the importance of “integrated reporting” to help in the move to a sustainable economy. FEE outlined that a well-founded discussion with all stakeholders involved in audit policy will only be achievable if it is based on a careful analysis of the current audit model and its integration within the entire regulatory, financial reporting and corporate governance system.

Hans van Damme, FEE outgoing President, chairing the panel with private sector stakeholders, reminded that auditors provide assurance on financial information prepared by management: “It is important to take a holistic approach, look at the whole corporate reporting system and consider whether financial statements on which auditors provide assurance meet the needs of today’s users”.

Philip Johnson, FEE incoming President, added that “FEE is committed to moving forward the debate on audit policy. This does not necessarily require more regulation, but smarter regulation to use the words of the Commission; at least, the Statutory Audit Directive should be fully implemented and its effects assessed. As a key step forward, we fully support the adoption of ISAs for all statutory audits in the EU through a legally binding instrument; by doing so it would also help enable the EC to fulfil a number of its objectives, including contributing to improvements in cross border mobility and coordination between audit oversight bodies, both at EU and international level”.

Olivier Boutellis-Taft, FEE CEO, said: “The sheer number of responses received by the Commission on its consultation is a good sign of the continued relevance of the profession. I am very pleased with how FEE and its members have approached this consultation. It demonstrates the profession is open to change and willing to contribute to improvements. Further progress will only materialise through a well-informed multi-stakeholders dialogue to which FEE remain committed. We look forward to working with all interested parties to develop the audit of the future”.

Press release


© FEE


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