SEC hosts ASEAN Audit Inspection and Surveillance workshops

     Bangkok, March 26, 2015 – The SEC recently hosted “3rd ASEAN Audit Inspection Workshop” and “2nd ASEAN Financial Statement Surveillance Workshop” the international audit oversight events, in Bangkok. The events served as venues for audit regulators in Asian and ASEAN countries to share knowledge and experiences on the supervision of auditors and financial reports and strengthen cooperation to build up the quality of financial reports and information disclosure of listed companies.

     Tipsuda Thavaramara, SEC Deputy Secretary-General, said that “At present, freer flow of capital and cross-border investments undoubtedly underscore the importance of financial reports, audit quality and development of international accounting and auditing standards.  The meetings of audit regulators in Asian and ASEAN countries were accordingly held to enhance the cooperation and consultation with a view to accomplishing comparable quality of audit work and financial reports across the region.

      The 3rd ASEAN Audit Inspection Workshop was joined by representatives from nine audit regulators, comprising 

• Malaysia’s Audit Oversight Board (AOB), 
• Singapore’s Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA), 
• SEC Cambodia, 
• Laos Securities Commission Office (SCO), 
• Pusat Pembinaan Akuntan da Jasa Penilai Indonesia (PPAJA), 
• Certified Public Accountants and Auditing Oversight Board (CPAAOB Japan), 
• China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), 
• Financial Reporting Council (FRC Hong Kong) and 
• SEC Thailand. 

     The meeting discussed the inspection process development, deficiencies found during audit quality inspection and initiatives in developing audit work.

     Participated by the representatives from ACRA Singapore, SC Malaysia, International Accounting Standard Board (IASB) and SEC Thailand, the 2nd ASEAN Financial Statement Surveillance Workshop was where the views and experience in conducting reviews on financial statements were exchanged while mutual understanding in adoption of the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) was created to push forward the comparable quality of financial reporting standards adopted by every country in the region.

     All in all, the events contributed valuable learning experiences to the participants on regulatory and oversight issues and case studies along with firming the cooperation among the audit regulators in boosting audit quality in the region.”