PCAOB Concludes Ninth International Institute on Audit Regulation

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board last week hosted approximately 80 audit regulators from 33 non-U.S. jurisdictions and five international organizations at its ninth annual International Institute on Audit Regulation.

In addition, more than a dozen officials from other U.S. regulatory and government agencies attended the event which took place December 2-4, 2015 in Washington. The Institute provides a forum for robust dialogue on timely and relevant audit issues that affect investor protection and the health and stability of the global financial markets.

"Investors everywhere benefit when audit regulators from different jurisdictions find productive ways to exchange ideas and work together, and we make every effort to ensure that the Institute continues to make a contribution in this regard," said PCAOB Chairman James R. Doty.

This year's agenda featured keynote addresses on current and future trends in auditor oversight by the current and a former chief accountant of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

PCAOB Chairman Doty led a panel discussion with several heads of audit regulatory bodies from around the world on the challenges and opportunities facing audit regulators and how best to prepare for them. The panel included:

• Chief Executive Officer of the Canadian Public Accountability Board
• Secretary General of the Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission, Financial Services Agency, Japan
• Chairman of the Auditor Oversight Commission, Germany
• Secretary General of the Haut Conseil du Commissariat aux Comptes, France
• Chief Executive of the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority, Singapore

New this year was a presentation on audit from an academic perspective. A Senior Fellow at the PCAOB Center for Economic Analysis spoke on the impact the PCAOB audit inspection program has had on overall audit quality.

The Institute also featured presentations on key international developments in audit, perspectives from audit committee members on those developments, measuring and assessing audit quality, barriers to audit quality, implications of "big data" for audit regulation, and the implementation of European Union audit reforms.

Presenters and panelists included individuals from academia, the private sector, and officials from audit regulators in Canada, France, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Singapore, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the European Commission.

Key leaders of international audit organizations such as the Financial Stability Board, the International Organization of Securities Commissions, and the International Forum of Independent Audit Regulators also participated in presentations.

"We are grateful to the audit regulators and international audit organizations from around the world for making the trip to Washington for this important event," said Bruce Wilson, PCAOB Director of International Affairs. "The exchange of ideas over the past three days can only help to improve global investor protection."

There currently are more than 900 PCAOB-registered audit firms in 90 non-U.S. jurisdictions. The PCAOB established the International Institute in 2007.