Australian Government
Auditing and Assurance Standards Board
Wednesday, July 15, 2020
The AUASB Chair, Professor Roger Simnett AO, welcomes the release of the Monitoring Group’s (MG) final report Strengthening the International Audit and Ethics Standard-Setting System, describing enhancements to the international audit and ethics standard-setting systems. These are aimed at enhancing the governance arrangements of the International Audit and Assurance Standards Board and International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants. The MG’s reforms are principally designed to support and enhance the following objectives associated with the development of high-quality standards that are widely adopted and implemented internationally:
• To achieve an independent and inclusive, multi-stakeholder standard-setting structure;
• To reinforce the consideration of the public interest within the standard-setting process and throughout the full cycle of standards’ development, including through appropriate independent oversight; and
• To foster the development of timely, high quality standards that respond to the accelerating pace of change.
Roger Simnett said “As a supporter of international convergence of auditing and assurance standards, and the fact that we use these standards as the base for the development of AUASB standards, we welcome this report. Pleasingly the MG’s reforms confirm the importance of two independent and technically expert boards with effective oversight to demonstrate transparency and accountability. The reforms maintain many of the strengths of the existing system, whilst including arrangements to improve the independence of the IAASB and IESBA, further clarify roles of the standard setting boards, and maintain the boards’ technical experience. I am particularly pleased with the increased recognition of the role of National Standard Setters such as the AUASB in achieving the objectives of the reforms”.
About the AUASB
The Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (AUASB) is an independent, non-corporate Commonwealth entity of the Australian Government, responsible for developing, issuing and maintaining auditing and assurance standards. Sound public interest-oriented auditing and assurance standards are necessary to reinforce the credibility of the auditing and assurance processes for those who use financial and other information. The AUASB standards are legally enforceable for audits or reviews of financial reports required under the Corporations Act 2001.
About the Monitoring Group
The Monitoring Group (MG) is a group of international financial institutions and regulatory bodies committed to advancing the public interest in areas related to international audit-related standard-setting and audit quality. For further information about the MG refer to https://www.iosco.org/about/?subsection=monitoring_group