Bangkok--21 Jan--SEC
The SEC participated in the International Forum of Independent Audit Regulators (IFIAR)’s global survey with a view to making further progress in improving audit quality in Thailand to the highest level in line with international standards.
IFAIR conducted this survey for the first time with the objective to identify the level of inspection activity and common inspection findings related to the audits of public companies around the world. The findings in the audits on major financial institutions were also forwarded to the Financial Stability Board (FSB) as requested.
The survey results indicate top-three findings in the audits of public companies in the areas of fair value measurements, internal control testing, and engagement quality control reviews. Meanwhile, the findings in the audits of major financial institutions are mainly in the areas of internal control testing, valuation of investments and securities, and audit of allowance for loan impairments.
The frequency of findings across jurisdictions in the various audit areas demonstrates that the auditors still need to continually improve their performance. On the recurrence of many findings year after year, audit firms should continue to improve their auditing techniques along with policies and methods, and also take steps to develop a root cause analysis to have better understanding on factors that underlie the inspection findings as well as appropriate solutions. For more details, the full report is available for download at the IFIAR website (www.ifiar.org).
Vorapol Socatiyanurak, SEC Secretary-General said that “The SEC foresees the importance of collaboration among independent audit regulators around the globe in order to share their common inspection findings, especially in the group of emerging market countries. The SEC believes that the findings from this survey will be beneficial to auditors in improving their works, thereby enhancing the quality of companies’ financial statements to be more transparent and reliable.”
The SEC has been a member of IFIAR since September 2010. To be accepted as an IFIAR member, an audit oversight authority must demonstrate its independence from audit professionals and also strictly perform the audit oversight on a regular basis and in line with international standards.