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Maintaining our reputation for excellence (3 of 4)
Dialogue in corporate governance
Building on a successful conference convened in Washington in 2005, the Institute has received many plaudits for its move to establish greater understanding of the different approaches to corporate governance that exist between the US and UK. A full-day conference in the first week of 2007 brought together leading stakeholders in the debate including the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, Rt. Hon Alistair Darling MP, Sir Christopher Hogg, Chairman of the Financial Reporting Council, Richard Lambert, Director General of the CBI and John Castellani, President of the US Business Roundtable. The conference also provided a launch pad for an Emerging Issues paper on effective corporate governance frameworks, shareholder and board responsibilities, and disclosure requirements.
re:Assurance
Businesses, investors, governments, tax authorities, market regulators and the public need to be able to rely on credible information to make informed economic decisions. In October our Audit & Assurance Faculty launched a major consultation process as part of our re:Assurance programme, aimed at identifying whether the models and frameworks that currently exist for assurance services for companies below the audit threshold are fit for purpose.
Following the increase in the audit exemption threshold, many companies with a turnover below £5.6m are no longer required to have a statutory audit, although some still choose to do so. As an alternative, we have developed an independent assurance report that directors may obtain on their financial statements. The purpose of this report may be to enhance the credibility of historical financial information with third parties or to give directors themselves additional comfort about financial statements for which they are responsible.
The Institute is now publicly consulting on the paper with a view to producing recommendations and conclusions based on feedback from the market.
Influencing policy and debate, leading the profession
Our ability to engage constructively with the broader policy debate through evidence-based recommendations was highlighted in 2006 in our response to Lord Carter’s proposals on accelerated tax filing. The original proposals caused widespread public concern about the additional pressures on the self-assessment system. Following research amongst smaller practitioners we were successful in ensuring that the recommendations were reviewed and the electronic filing deadline deferred by three months. Lord Carter made this announcement at a Tax Faculty event at the Institute, underscoring the importance of our contribution.
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