Responses to Issues of public concern a key feature of CARB Work in 2010.
Initiatives by the Chartered Accountants Regulatory Board (CARB) to address issues of public concern arising from the banking crisis were a key element of its work in 2010 according to the CARB Annual Report for 2010 published today.
Two key initiatives – the work of CARB-appointed Special Investigator inquiring into matters related to Anglo Irish Bank Corporation plc. and the establishment, under the CARB Quality Assurance remit, of a review of the 2008 audits of financial institutions covered by the government’s guarantee scheme achieved significant progress in 2010.
In December 2010 the Special Investigator, Mr John Purcell, former Comptroller General in the Republic, presented his reports regarding four members of Chartered Accountants Ireland (the Institute) to the CARB Complaints Committee. In areas where a prima facie case was established by the Special Investigator against each member Formal Complaints were then forwarded to the CARB Disciplinary Committee. Recently CARB’s plans to hold public disciplinary hearings in relation to these matters were postponed following a request from the Director of Public Prosecutions.
During 2010 Mr Purcell, the Special Investigator, also continued his work in relation to one member firm, Ernst & Young, who were the auditors to Anglo Irish Bank Corporation plc. It is hoped that the Special Investigator will be in a position to report his findings in this matter to the Complaints Committee in the coming weeks, subject to ongoing legal proceedings.
To date the costs (legal etc.) associated with the Special Investigator’s work are approximately €1.6million. These costs were incurred by CARB which is funded by Chartered Accountants Ireland.
In 2010 CARB also initiated a review of the 2008 audits by member firms of the “covered” financial institutions. The scope of this review, which takes place under the CARB Quality Assurance remit, was approved by the Board following consultation with the Irish Auditing & Accounting Supervisory Authority (IAASA).
The review is focusing on the application of appropriate procedures during the audit of accounts for 2008 year end, specifically in respect of loan valuations and provisions for impairments of those loans. The CARB Board appointed Mr. David Spence as the independent expert to oversee the review; the Board expects to publish a report in the summer of 2011.
Commenting on the Annual Report the Vice-Chair of the Chartered Accountancy Regulatory Board, Dr. Don Thornhill stated “Addressing issues of public concern has been of paramount importance to the Chartered Accountants Regulatory Board in 2010. CARB was established to ensure that all stakeholders, especially the public, have confidence that the chartered accountancy profession. CARB is committed to diligently and promptly enquiring into circumstances that raise questions about the conduct of any member of Chartered Accountants Ireland. During 2010 we expended considerable resources on this important mandate and that work will continue in 2011.”
In addition to these significant initiatives the CARB role in the oversight and regulation of members of the Institute continued during 2010. Other important elements of the CARB programme of work in 2010 included the approval of revised Disciplinary Bye-laws and development of a revised Code of Ethics. In addition our monitoring programme continued with 172 inspections undertaken in accordance with CARB’s risk-based approach to Quality Assurance.
In 2010 98 complaints were made to CARB – a decrease from 102 complaints made in 2009. The CARB Complaints Committee considered 93 cases in 2010 of which 15 were referred to the Disciplinary Committee.
The Chartered Accountancy Regulatory Board Director, Ms. Heather Briers, stated, “CARB was established to regulate members of Chartered Accountants Ireland independently, openly and in the public interest. While our endeavours in relation to issues of public concern naturally attracted significant attention during 2010 we also fulfilled our ongoing responsibilities across a range of other areas such as Quality Assurance, monitoring CPD and feeding into the policy and regulatory framework. CARB continued to use the website as a means of providing guidance and in particular a new Ethics page was also launched on www.carb.ie to provide accessible information and guidance to both members and the public.”
LOADING...