IFIAR Public Oversight Benefits and Challenges Julia Rendschmidt, - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

IFIAR

Public Oversight – Benefits and Challenges

Julia Rendschmidt, AOC (Germany)

What I will cover

• What IFIAR is

– Definition – Scope – Objectives – Membership

• IFIAR’s organisation and structure
• IFIAR’s current initiatives
• IFIAR’s core principles
• IFIAR’s role in high quality corporate reporting
• Questions and Discussion

What IFIAR is

• IFIAR = International Forum of Independent

Audit Regulators

• IFIAR is the international focal point for audit

regulation

• Formed in 2006; currently 46 Members from all

continents, including 13 out of 20 G20 countries

• IFIAR is equivalent to IOSCO (securities

regulators), Basel Committee (banking) and IAIS (insurance)

IFIAR’s scope

• Sharing knowledge of the audit market

environment and practical experience of independent audit regulatory activities with a focus on inspections of auditors and audit firms

• Promoting collaboration and consistency in

regulatory activity

• Providing a platform for dialogue with other
• rganizations that have an interest in audit

quality

IFIAR membership

• Restricted to regulatory agencies that are:

– Independent of the profession – Responsible for regulatory tasks and particularly systems of recurring inspection of auditors of Public Interest Entities (PIE’s), either directly or indirectly

• A number of jurisdictions are in the process of

applying or have enquired about membership

• Organisations interested in joining should

contact the IFIAR Chair via www.ifiar.org

IFIAR’s organisation and structure

• Officers

– Chair: Lew Ferguson, PCAOB, US – Vice-chair: Janine van Diggelen, AFM, NL

• Advisory Council – advises the Officers;

comprised of 7 Members

• Working Groups – six Working Groups
• Funding – Each Member pays !9,000 annually

to fund IFIAR operations

• The IFIAR Charter is available at www.ifiar.org

IFIAR’s organisation and structure

• Official IFIAR Observers include:

– International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) – Basel Committee – International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS) – the World Bank – the European Commission – the Financial Stability Board (FSB) – the Public Interest Oversight Board (PIOB)

IFIAR’s organisation and structure

• Annual meetings

– Plenary meeting held in April

• Discussions cover audit policy, market

developments and members’ inspection findings

• Plenary discussions with investors, standard

setters and others

• The Global CEO’s of the 6 major audit international

networks called the Global Public Policy Committee (GPPC), attend to answer questions from IFIAR members – Interim meeting held in October

IFIAR’s organisation and structure

• Annual Meetings (continued)
• Inspection workshop
• 90+ inspectors discuss and compare

inspection procedures, experiences, approach, strategy and findings

• Global event that drives consistency

in regulatory approaches

IFIAR’s organisation and structure

• IFIAR working groups (WG):

– Global Public Policy Committee WG – Investor WG – Standards Coordination WG – International Cooperation WG – Inspection Workshop WG – Enforcement WG

IFIAR’s Core Principles

• 11 Principles were established in 2011
• Principles cover Audit Regulators’

– Structure – Operations – Inspections

• Principles are not binding on Members but are a

good indication of Members’ best practices

IFIAR’s Core Principles

• Principles on structure cover responsibilities,

independence, transparency and accountability

• f regulators
• Principles on operations cover enforcement,

handling of complaints, capacity and competence of staff, confidentiality and cooperation

• Principles on inspection cover risk-based,

effective firm-wide reviews and the audit file review process

IFIAR’s role in promoting high quality corporate reporting

• High quality audit supports high quality corporate

reporting, which lowers the cost of capital, and underpins economic stability and growth

• IFIAR and its members promote quality in audit on a

global basis

• IFIAR and its members provide feedback to audit

standard setters and act as a counterbalance to the influence of the profession; IFIAR is a member of the Monitoring Group

• Independent oversight of the profession is

increasingly a condition of continued public trust in the accounting and audit professions

IFIAR’s current initiatives

• Survey of Members’ inspections findings and

international cooperation matters

• Continuous sharing of best practice in inspections

and enforcement matters

• Increase public visibility by aiming to develop

common views on audit standards

• Dialogue with investors, GPPC, IAASB and IESBA
• Examination of governance structures and

business models of audit networks and their influence on audit quality

• Outreach effort to assist jurisdictions to establish

sound auditor oversight systems

Questions and discussion

Over to you! www.ifiar.org