Audit oversight and quality assurance: from setting the requirements to practical implementation

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3 Audit oversight and quality assurance: from setting the requirements to practical implementation 8-9 October 2015, Chisinau, Republic of Moldova Radisson Blu Leogrand Hotel The Strengthening Auditing and Reporting in the countries of the Eastern Partnership (STAREP) program has been working with Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine since October STAREP supports a regional Community of Practice (A&ACoP) to address shared challenges in corporate financial reporting and audit reform and provide relevant knowledge and technical advice for the transposition of the accounting and auditing elements of the acquis communautaire especially the 2013 accounting directive and the recently revised directive on statutory audits. Effective financial reporting underpins the development of the best businesses - those that others are willing to invest in and to do business with. It informs decisions that are made, for example, by shareholders, directors, investors and suppliers. Audit is an essential safeguard to provide independent assurance that the financial reporting of businesses properly reflects their circumstances and it is important that audit is a sustainable business, with adequate capacity and a diversity of suppliers meeting a variety of preferences. A&ACoP seeks to guide the STAREP countries on how their Governments can put in place the best and most appropriate regime, one that will most effectively respond to the modern fast moving, highly developed business economy. In the EU, the Regulation 1 and the revised Auditing Directive 2 have considerable implications for the structure of existing audit regulation frameworks. They set out a regime where: (i) Governments must either be, or must designate, a single competent authority with ultimate responsibility for all the regulatory tasks provided for in the Directive; and (ii) the country can delegate to other authorities some oversight and quality assurance tasks, subject to oversight by a competent authority. Thus, the country may: (i) delegate tasks; or (ii) require or allow the single competent authority to delegate tasks to: (a) other authorities; or (b) bodies designated or otherwise authorised by law to carry out such tasks. Any delegation of tasks must specify the conditions under which the tasks are to be carried out. One of the aims of the new regulatory regime is to achieve a higher level of consistency particularly, but not exclusively, in relation to audits of public interest entities (PIEs). A single competent authority in each Member State is required to take ultimate responsibility for the key regulatory tasks for all audits. But for audits of PIEs in particular it must inspect the audit firms and investigate and sanction misconduct using strengthened regulatory powers. This A&ACoP workshop is an opportunity for STAREP countries to consider how they can bring together European and in-country reforms to develop a new auditor regulatory regime, especially important for Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine whose Association Agreements with the EU require P a g e

4 them to align their legislation with the EU acquis. The regime must serve the needs of companies, those who work in them and those who do business with them. It must increase confidence and trust as the basis for business growth. The workshop will give participant countries representatives (CoP members) legal and practical insights on the institutional arrangements and main activities of the public oversight function. It will also discuss what constitutes a sound professional accountancy organization (PAO) and its role and main responsibilities. PAO s possible contribution to public oversight and quality assurance, and the conditions in which some oversight functions and tasks could be delegated to PAOs will be also discussed. 2 P a g e

5 Agenda Thursday, 8 October 2015 Day 1 08:30 Registration and Welcome Coffee 09:00 Welcome Remarks Veronica Ursu State Secretary, Ministry of Finance, Republic of Moldova Alexander Kremer Country Manager for Moldova, The World Bank Wicher Slagter Head of Political and Economic Section of the Delegation of the European Union to the Republic of Moldova Samia Msadek Practice Director, Governance - Public Resources Mobilization and Management, The World Bank (address by video) Gerhard Schaumberger Head of Office, Coordination Office for Technical Cooperation, Austrian Embassy Chisinau 09:30 Public Oversight in FRANCE: institutional and legal arrangements, and activities Laurence Duflo Deputy Secretary General, High Council for Statutory Audit /Haut Conseil du Commissariat aux Comptes (H3C), France Henri Fortin Head, CFRR This session will discuss the French experience of implementing public oversight, including the institutional set-up, functions and operations, and will also outline the role of PAOs in France. There will also be discussion of recent proposals for changes as part of audit reform in the EU. 11:00 Coffee Break 11:30 Reforming audit regulation in UKRAINE Representatives of Ukrainian delegation Natalie Manuilova Ukraine s Association Agreement with the EU, signed in 2014, requires them to align legislation with the EU acquis communautaire. The delegation from Ukraine will share their new concept for public oversight and the main provisions of the draft Auditing Law, developed based on the Statutory Auditing Directive and the Regulation on PIE audits. The community will then discuss the planned changes and offer their Ukrainian colleagues feedback on the proposed concept and the draft law. 3 P a g e

6 12:10 Reforming audit regulation in GEORGIA Representatives of Georgian delegation Moderators: Natalie Manuilova Galina Alagardova Financial Management Specialist, World Bank, Tbilisi Office Georgia also signed an Association Agreement with the EU 2014 which requires alignment of legislation with the EU acquis communautaire. Georgia does not yet have a competent authority, independent from the profession, to perform the audit oversight function. The delegation from Georgia will share with the community the recently drafted concept for the public oversight, based on the 2015 A&AROSC findings and recommendations. Participants and experts will be invited to discuss the concept and offer Georgian colleagues feedback. 12:50 Lunch 14:00 Reforming audit regulation in MOLDOVA Representatives of Moldovan delegation Moderators: Andrei Busuioc Svetlana Platon Consultant, CFRR Moldova s Association Agreement with the EU, signed in 2014, similarly requires alignment of legislation with the EU acquis communautaire. While most elements of an audit oversight system as set out in the EU s Statutory Audit Directive are incorporated in the Law on Auditing, implementation of the law is challenging. The delegation from Moldova will outline the key aspects of the concept for re-designing the public oversight function, which is currently under development. They will also ask for the community s feedback and invite discussion of their plans. 14:40 Establishing appropriate audit oversight system in ARMENIA Representatives of Armenian delegation Andrei Busuioc During this session the participants from Armenia will update the community on their recent efforts to establish audit oversight and quality assurance systems, notably a recent draft law and proposed institutional structure for audit oversight and quality assurance. The delegation will highlight issues on which they would welcome feedback and invite the community to discuss these. 15:20 Coffee Break 4 P a g e

7 15:50 Establishing appropriate audit oversight system in BELARUS Representatives of Belarusian delegation Natalie Manuilova During this session the participants from Belarus will brief the community on their efforts to modernize audit oversight and quality assurance, highlighting the questions on which the delegation is seeking community s feedback. Moderators will allow participants and experts to discuss in group and to provide colleagues from Belarus with feedback on the presentation. 16:25 Establishing appropriate audit oversight system in AZERBAIJAN Representatives of Azerbaijan delegation Tural Jamalov Financial Management Specialist, World Bank, Baku Office In this session the participants from Azerbaijan will update the community on their recent efforts to establish audit oversight and quality assurance systems. They will brief the community on the institutional framework and expected changes, and seek feedback from the community on a range of questions. 17:00 End of Day 1 17:30 Group Dinner (details will be announced) 5 P a g e

8 Friday, 9 October 2015 Day 2 08:30 Morning coffee 09:00 Realizing the power of professional accountancy organizations (PAO) John Hodge Andrei Busuioc This session will discuss how PAOs can contribute to a stronger business climate by increasing confidence in corporate financial reporting. The role PAOs play will also consider what oversight tasks can be delegated to PAOs and how this delegation can be done effectively. 10:30 Coffee Break 11:00 The NZICA and ICAA merger: Will emerging PAO strategies improve financial reporting? John Hodge Natalie Manuilova The presenter will provide an overview of the recent merger of the New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants (NZICA) and the Institute of Chartered Accountants Australia (ICAA) - the first transnational merger of Professional Accounting Organizations. The presentation will cover the evolution of the modern PAO and increasing corporate nature of their operating models and strategies and consider how modern PAOs contribute to better financial reporting and auditing. 12:30 Lunch 14:00 Open session: establishing and developing a strong Professional Accountancy Body - identification of main benefits and challenges Facilitators: Andrei Busuioc John Hodge This open session will build on the key messages from previous sessions, giving participants the opportunity to discuss in groups the main benefits and challenges in establishing and developing a sound PAO and to present these to the wider group. 15:30 Coffee Break 6 P a g e

9 16:00 A&ACoP Open Session Moderators: Andrei Busuioc Svetlana Platon Consultant, CFRR This session will draw together the key takeaways for the community and the team, and will invite feedback on the workshop against the stated objectives to help shape the agenda for the next workshop. 16:40 Summary of the Workshop and Next Steps Andrei Busuioc 16:50 Closing remarks A&ACOP team 17:00 End of the Workshop 7 P a g e

10 Bios of the Speakers Laurence Duflo Deputy Secretary General, High Council for Statutory Audit /Haut Conseil du Commissariat aux Comptes (H3C), France Laurence DUFLO became Deputy Secretary General of the H3C in November Prior to this, Laurence worked with Société Générale. From 2001 to 2004, she took part to the IFRS implementation proje ct in the Corporate and Investment Banking Division. During this period, she was appointed cochairwoman of the European Securitization Forum accounting committee and was a member of the ISDA accounting committee. She then held other positions within the Corporate and Investment Banking Division, notably as Secretary General of one of the main business lines. Laurence started her career in 1991 as an auditor with Arthur Andersen. From 1995 to 2001, Laurence held various positions at the Commission Bancaire, the French Banking supervisor. She conducted inspections in French banks. She also contributed to the development of the regulatory framework in Europe and worked on European cooperation matters. Laurence graduated from ESCP Europe, one of the leading French business schools. She also holds a law degree. John Hodge Senior Financial Management Specialist, Centre for Financial Reporting Reform, the World Bank Mr. Hodge joined the World Bank in June 2015 as a Senior Financial Management Specialist with the Center for Corporate Financial Reporting Reform (CFRR). Before joining the World Bank he spent 4 years with the main Professional Accounting Organisation in New Zealand including 3 years as a member of the Executive at the New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants (NZICA) and the recently formed Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand (CAANZ), with responsibility for leading New Zealand s co-regulation and self-regulation functions for over 33,000 member Chartered Accountants. He has direct experience in working closely with the Financial Markets Authority, the Public Oversight Body in New Zealand, to undertake delegated and contracted audit regulation work. Prior to his time at NZICA/CAANZ, Mr Hodge worked for PricewaterhouseCoopers for 13 years based in New Zealand, Canada and Italy. He mainly worked in the assurance division and spent some time in the capital markets team. During his seven years in Italy he was a Senior Manager on the audits of some of PricewaterhouseCoopers larget global clients; ENI and Telecom Italia. Mr. Hodge holds a university degree in business majoring in accounting from the Auckland University of Technology and was admitted into the College of Chartered Accountants in New Zealand in P a g e

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