We write to share a brief update on our latest initiative to support global standard setting and to better leverage the coordination opportunities between our two boards.
With global regulatory fragmentation risk on the rise, and greater international collaboration on the forthcoming G20 agenda, it is a pleasure to advise that last month we convened a meeting in Paris with national audit and ethics standard-setting organizations representing 17 jurisdictions.
We spontaneously dubbed this four-way dialogue (IAASB + IESBA + national audit & assurance + ethics standards setters) a “quadrilogue”. The name has stuck—along with the goodwill the event created!
The discussions marked the beginning of an exploratory and evolutionary process for the IAASB and IESBA to work with national standard setters, and for national standard setters to work with each other, to consider new ideas in pursuit of mutually shared objectives.
The meeting advanced already-significant IAASB and IESBA coordination efforts, which acknowledge the importance of audit and ethics standards to audit quality. The meeting facilitated further collaboration between a number of national audit & assurance standard setters and the IAASB, as well as identifying ways national standard setters can work more effectively together in the interests of international standard setting.
Some important themes emerged from the “quadrilogue”:
The value of continued IAASB and IESBA coordination, the significant advances made to-date, and how it serves as a catalyst for national coordination;
The importance of early coordination between our two boards, and increased stakeholder communications about it;
Recognition that it is important to identify the areas where four-way engagement makes most sense; and
Quality management within accountancy firms, implications of technology developments, stakeholder engagement, and enhanced implementations activities are possible topics for further exploration.
Yours sincerely,
Arnold Schilder and Stavros Thomadakis IAASB and IESBA Chairs
Chairs of the International Auditing & Assurance Standards Board (IAASB) and the International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants (IESBA) respond to the UK's Brydon review. In addition to responding to the Brydon review's proposals, this letter highlights how both Boards act in the public interest to support public confidence in audits of financial statements and other assurance engagements, and also serve to reinforce the important ethical responsibilities of professional accountants in business (PAIBs) in the external reporting ecosystem.
