Brussels, 12/10/2010 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 13 October, the commissioner in charge of the internal market, Michel Barnier, will present a Green Paper relaunching for the next eight weeks the debate on the future of the auditing sector (EUROPE 10128). Stakeholders are invited to give their opinions on subjects such as the adoption in the European Union of International Standards for Auditing (ISA) and the setting up of European supervision of auditing firms. The Green Paper reopens “certain debates on public policy for auditing” in light of the international economic system characterised by “the financial crisis and the increasing need for transparency and trust in information communicated by companies and required by the stakeholders”, as explained to EUROPE by the executive director of the Federation of European Accountants (FEE) Olivier Boutellis-Taft. He regretted “the great secret” surrounding the drafting of the Commission document, an opinion also expressed by other interest groups.
The International Standards for Auditing are published by the International Federation of Accountants by way of the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB). Currently, around 15 member states are implementing these standards. Boutellis-Taft believes that the Commission is not demonstrating enough political robustness with regard to the adoption of the ISA by the EU. In 2009, the Commission had already consulted the stakeholders on the basis of a study carried out by the University of Duisburg-Essen, according to which the advantages of adopting the ISA in the EU outweighed the costs of such a process (EUROPE 9927).
In 2003, the FEE referred to a possible European supervision of the auditing profession. The debate should help to answer two questions: - Is European supervision appropriate?; - If this proves to be the case, how should this supervision be structured? Different possibilities are put forward, including the creation of a specific undertaking or the granting of specific competencies to the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) set up in the “supervision” package.
The Green Paper will include an international dimension. Supported by the FEE, the Commission would like to promote the concept of mutual reliance, according to which a supervisor trusts his counterpart in a third country who is tasked with checking other undertakings of an international firm. Extreme market concentration will also be discussed, where the “Big Four” (PriceWaterhouseCoopers, KPMG, Ernst&Young, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu) hold 80% of the European market share. (M.B./transl.fl)