ACRA elected to the Board of Global Forum of Audit Regulators

Singapore, 27 April 2021 – The Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA) has been re-elected to serve on the Board of the International Forum of Independent Audit Regulators (IFIAR) for another four-year term at the elections which took place during the 2021 IFIAR Plenary meeting held virtually from 19 to 21 April 2021. Ms Kuldip Gill, ACRA’s Assistant Chief Executive (Accounting Group) has also been appointed to chair the Human Resources and Governance Committee. 

2        Established in 2006 with 18 founding members including ACRA, IFIAR promotes global collaboration and sharing of experience among the audit regulators. This is done through initiatives such as inspection and enforcement workshops, surveys and publications on regulatory trends and developments. IFIAR actively engages the global leadership of six largest international networks of audit firms (known as the GPPC^[1] firms) on initiatives to improve audit quality globally. It also provides a platform for dialogue with other international organisations that have an interest in audit quality. As of April 2021, IFIAR’s membership comprises 54 audit regulators from jurisdictions in Africa, the Americas, Asia-Pacific, Europe and the Middle East. 

3        The IFIAR Board was established in April 2017 and is responsible for developing IFIAR’s strategy and determining annual operating priorities. As a board member, ACRA helps to support IFIAR’s objectives of promoting sustainable improvements in audit quality, building members’ oversight capabilities and enhancing the collective impact of the audit regulatory community.  

4        Said ACRA’s Chief Executive, Mr Ong Khiaw Hong, “We are grateful for the support of IFIAR members in re-electing ACRA to the IFIAR Board. We are committed to serving in IFIAR and look forward to contributing as a Board member to advance IFIAR’s mission to serve the public interest by enhancing audit oversight globally”. 

5        Besides serving on the IFIAR Board, ACRA is also a member of the Global Audit Quality Working Group^[2] and the Technology Task Force^[3]. ACRA’s active participation in IFIAR enables Singapore to provide our insights and raise awareness of audit quality concerns in the Southeast Asia region. It also allows ACRA to learn and benchmark its audit regulation against international practices and engage the international community on cross-border issues that may impact the delivery of high quality audits.   

^[1] The Global Public Policy Committee (GPPC) member audit firms comprise BDO, Deloitte, EY, Grant Thornton, KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers.

^[2] The Global Audit Quality Working Group is responsible for coordinating IFIAR’s ongoing dialogue with the GPPC firms to promote continuous improvement in audit quality.

^[3] The Technology Task Force seeks to explore the audit quality impact of technology audit tools used widely around the world by the GPPC firms.

ACCOUNTING AND CORPORATE REGULATORY AUTHORITY
27 April 2021