New submission for SEC hearings
The Panel on Audit Effectiveness - appointed by the US Securities & Exchange Commission to examine audit practices - has issued its final comments on the issue of auditor independence.
The Panel on Audit Effectiveness - appointed by the US Securities & Exchange Commission to examine audit practices - has issued its final comments on the issue of auditor independence.
Next week the SEC’s public hearings into the revision of auditor independence rules resume in New York following July’s Washington hearing where three of the Big Five accountancy firms voiced their concern over SEC chairman Arthur Levitt’s plans.
The panel’s recommendations can be read by clicking here.
Panel chairman Shaun O’Malley said: ‘Clearly the conduct of audits and the governance of the profession need substantial improvement, particularly as the global economy grows more complex and the demand on our capital markets grows more intense.’
‘While our report demonstrates that both the profession and the quality of itsaudits are fundamentally sound, the recommendations we put forth are vital tospur the needed improvements.
‘Their implementation will require the efforts, support, and cooperation of the profession, the SEC, and all the others to whom the recommendations are addressed,’ he said.
Chairman of the Public Oversight Board, which oversees the US profession, and former Comptroller General of the United States, Charles Bowsher, said: ‘The Panel members and their staff have completed the most thorough examination of the audit process ever undertaken in the long history of the accounting profession.
‘While implementing all the specific recommendations will require tremendous efforts by all of those involved, I’m confident the various stakeholders recognize that they will all ultimately benefit from finding common ground on which to strengthen the profession for the future,’ he said.
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