Monitoring Group makes progress on audit standard reform
The Monitoring Group (MG) – the international committee of regulators that oversights audit standards and ethical standards for the accounting and audit profession, has published a short report into the progress it has made so far implementing its recommended measures to strengthen the international audit system.
Since 2015 the MG has been working on improving a range of factors related to independence and governance of international standards for audit, responding to concerns that standard setters have been too close to the audit profession to implement fully independent standards in the public interest.
This report follows a paper, published July 2020, in which the MG outlined its recommendations for Strengthening the International Audit and Ethics Standard-Setting System. In this week’s report, the MG states that it is on track to implement these recommendations within the established timeframe.
The objectives of the MG Recommendations are the implementation of an independent and inclusive multi-stakeholder standard-setting structure that is responsive to the public interest in the development of timely, high-quality ethics, independence, audit, and assurance standards.
Initial efforts have focused on staffing, including strengthening the Public Interest Oversight Board (PIOB)’s oversight and governance role by building a diverse, expert, independent membership, transitioning Standard Setting Boards (SSB) nominations processes to the PIOB, and launching a new legal entity to house the SSBs.
Funding and staffing remain a key focus – while financial contributions from the Global Public Policy Committee and accountancy profession has made existing reforms possible, acquiring long-term, multi-stakeholder funding is a necessary next step for the MG to progress its implementation efforts in service of high-quality international ethics, independence, audit and assurance standards.
Read the report here.
