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Audit and corporate governance reform

Following the King’s Speech in July 2024, long-awaited legislation to establish ARGA was put back on the agenda. ICAEW’s Audit and Assurance Faculty unpacks the key issues around audit and corporate governance reform.
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Accounting
Insights

The government can see the economic sense of audit reform

King’s speech: the government has listened to ICAEW and other professional bodies on audit and corporate governance reform. ICAEW CEO Alan Vallance explains why this is such a positive step.
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Insights

Why the resilience statement hasn’t gone away

Despite the government dropping a requirement for UK plc to produce a resilience statement, some businesses still see the benefits of adopting its principles.
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Podcast

Where next for audit and governance reform?

In this Insights In Focus episode, we discuss the future of audit and corporate governance reform.
Listen now
Informing policy

We need audit reform from our next government

ICAEW has given evidence to the Business and Trade Committee on the challenges of audit and corporate governance reform. Iain Wright, ICAEW’s Managing Director, Reputation and Influence, explains what’s needed.
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Insights

FRC slashes UK Corporate Governance Code revisions

More than half of the proposals outlined in its consultation will not be taken forward in the interests of reducing burdens, regulator says.
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Latest news and insights

Wates Principles: seven steps towards better governance reporting
  • Article
  • 11 Dec 2024
A recent FRC report studied the quality of governance reporting and adoption of the Wates Principles. Its authors outline where businesses could improve.
Influencing policy to support you: November 2024
  • Article
  • 28 Nov 2024
Following on from the Budget, ICAEW has been considering the government’s proposed industrial strategy, plans on audit reform and proposed changes to apprenticeships.
Influencing policy to support you: October 2024
  • Article
  • 31 Oct 2024
Ahead of the Budget, ICAEW’s policy and public affairs teams communicated key policy recommendations to political stakeholders and reacted to the new consultation on an Industrial Strategy.
Is your sustainability assurance house in order?
  • Article
  • 23 Oct 2024
Sustainability claims made by businesses are increasingly under the spotlight. How should internal audit work with external providers of assurance to ensure material controls are fit for purpose?
Big Four firms conclude operational separation transition
  • Article
  • 11 Oct 2024
The four largest audit firms have finished their transition period of operational separation, according to The Financial Reporting Council (FRC).
Influencing policy to support you: September 2024
  • Article
  • 26 Sep 2024
As parliament returned from the summer recess, ICAEW was finalising its Budget submission – urging immediate action to provide clarity over business taxes and stimulate growth – and gearing up for the political party conference season.
New Internal Audit Code to strengthen corporate governance
  • Article
  • 11 Sep 2024
Enhanced Chartered Institute of Internal Auditors Code of Practice aims to tackle emerging risks, bolster business resilience and support economic stability.
Influencing policy to support you: August 2024
  • Article
  • 28 Aug 2024
Parliament may be in recess, but ICAEW remains busy preparing for the launch of new legislation on audit reform, the Budget and the political party conference season.
More articles

Exploring the headline reforms

Where next for audit and governance reform?
  • Podcast
In this Insights In Focus episode, we discuss the future of audit and corporate governance reform.
Developing a meaningful Audit and Assurance Policy
  • Report
ICAEW recommendations in this report and the extensive outreach and evidence gathering process on which they are based, suggest that introducing an “Audit and Assurance Policy“ could render corporate information more informative.
Audit manifesto
  • Article
This manifesto for audit distils knowledge and insights from ICAEW’s AuditFutures initiative into five principles for building a modern audit profession.
Driving more informative auditor resignation statements
  • Helpsheets and support
Are auditors providing meaningful information in their resignation statements, and if not, why not? This article looks at the requirements and what stakeholders have been saying.

Thought Leadership: the future of audit

Sharpening the focus on corporate fraud: an audit committee perspective
  • Thought leadership report
This report from ICAEW's Audit and Assurance Faculty considers audit committee perspectives on the nature and extent of corporate fraud and what the corporate sector is doing to improve the chances of preventing and detecting it.
Sharpening the focus on corporate fraud: an audit firm perspective
  • Report
What steps are audit firms taking now to better facilitate fraud deterrence and detection and what more can be done by all players in the financial reporting ecosystem?
Audit quality: how to raise the bar
  • Thought leadership report
What steps can and should audit committees, audit regulators, investors and auditors in the UK take to improve audit quality? This essay from the Audit and Assurance Faculty examines audit quality in terms of ownership, behavioural aspects, and structural drivers.
Fraudulent financial reporting: fresh thinking
  • Report
In this essay we focus on ways in which the skills and insights of auditors can be brought to bear to maximise the likelihood of identifying fraudulent financial reporting.
Shared and joint audits: are two auditors better than one?
  • Article
Governments and regulators are considering whether to mandate shared or joint audits in an attempt to increase audit quality, competition and choice.
User-driven assurance: fresh thinking
  • Thought leadership report
With calls for better engagement between auditors and users, we recommend the application of a three "pillar" model of what we call "User-Driven Assurance"; a new way of thinking about assurance, directed in its first phase by the needs of the primary user – the shareholders.
Internal control effectiveness: who needs to know?
  • Thought leadership report
Reporting on the effectiveness of controls over financial reporting features prominently in the current reviews of UK audit and regulation. This essay explores the current position in the UK, compares it with what happens in the USA and elsewhere in the world, and sets out the case for change and potential options.
Internal controls reporting: sketching out the options
  • Thought leadership report
What might a future framework for reporting on internal control over financial reporting (ICFR) look like? This essay from the Audit and Assurance Faculty examines various reporting frameworks, including COSO and the UK Code, as well as how these fit in with Sir Donald Brydon’s recommendations.

Quality management

With new quality management standards for audit on the horizon, there is an opportunity for firms of all sizes to supercharge their audits and reap significant knock-on benefits that go beyond ticking the regulatory box

Find out more
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