EU rules bring audit regulators closer together

Proposed European rules on the oversight of non-EU audit firms could spark
closer cooperation between international watchdogs and the potential creation of
a common regulatory framework for audit, according to Financial Reporting
Council chief executive Paul Boyle.

Speaking to Accountancy Age, Boyle said proposals that would make
the FRC responsible for the registration and inspection of audit firms that work
for non-EU companies listed in London may prompt better working relationships
with bodies like the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

‘I am hoping that it will bring regulators closer together,’ said Boyle, who
is chairing a working group of international regulators that meets in Sydney in
March next year. ‘We think that the arguments in favour of cooperation of these
national regulators are overwhelming. It is in the interests of the regulators
themselves, the audit firms and for the companies being audited. If you have got
different regulators with different requirements, that is bound to make life
more complicated for the auditors, and the firms will not be slow in passing on
the costs to their clients.’

‘If we can make the regulatory framework for auditor regulation more
harmonised across the world then it will help to keep the cost of regulation
down and make regulation more effective.’

For more on this story, don’t forget to read the next issue of
Accountancy Age on 5 January.