ICAS calls for new audit regulator
Scotland's leading accounting institute has called for the establishment of a new independent regulator, backed by government statute, to monitor company auditors throughout the UK.
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Following the Department of Trade & Industry’s decision to review the role of the Accountancy Foundation, ICAS said it ‘unanimously endorsed’ a new independent auditing regulator.
The Scottish institute said the regulator should be responsible for the registration of company auditors, the monitoring of their performance and have the power to enforce procedures and discipline on them.
Furthermore, the regulator should have the authority to bring any particular entity under its scope of operation, although the criteria to determine which unlisted companies fell within the public interest should be the decision of the DTI.
It should also have the power to monitor the effectiveness of designated professional bodies, and be able to request that the DTI remove this designation if necessary.
ICAS said an independent regulator should be funded in the same as the Financial Services Authority is financed.