APESB and AUASB joint Webinar (26 August 2022)
On 26 August, the APESB and AUASB hosted a joint Webinar on proposed revisions relating to Public Interest Entities (PIEs), including the new definition and proposed transparency disclosure in the auditor’s report.
The webinar covered two consultation documents relating to PIEs, that was issued for public comment:
- The APESB’s Exposure Draft which proposes changes to APES 110 Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants (including Independence Standards) (the Code). The proposed revisions are based on changes introduced into the IESBA Code earlier this year. One of these changes is a requirement for firms to publicly disclose whether the independence requirements for PIEs have been applied in an audit.
- The AUASB’s Consultation Paper which considers a new IAASB Exposure Draft which proposes to address the new PIE transparency requirement in the Code by making narrow scope amendments to ISA 700 (Revised) Forming an Opinion and Reporting on Financial Statements and ISA 260 (Revised) Communication with Those Charged with Governance
The webinar covered:
- An outline of the proposed key revisions to the Code for the definition of Listed Entity and PIEs.
- The background to the IAASB’s Project on Listed Entity and PIE.
- An outline of the proposed key revisions to ISA 700 and the impact on the auditor’s report.
Participants were also provided with an opportunity to provide feedback directly to the AUASB and APESB on:
- the proposed revisions to the definition of PIE in the Code and whether additional entities should be considered to be PIEs in the Australian environment;
- whether the auditor’s report provides the appropriate mechanism through which to make the public disclosures required by the revised Code; and
- if the disclosures are made in the auditor’s report, what is the best approach for dealing with this in the report.
The slide pack for the webinar can be found here. A recording of the webinar is also available on our YouTube channel for those of you who missed it. Watch it here.
