The Bank of Russia will discuss sector reform with auditors at regional meetings

The regional discussion of a draft law on the development of auditing regulation was initiated in Vladivostok on 7 September. The document has been elaborated by the joint efforts of the Bank of Russia, the Russian Ministry of Finance and the auditors’ community.

Recent experience suggests that the most well-balanced solutions have been reached via direct communication with the market. This explains why key approaches to reform and stages of development have been addressed at various forums. The professional community provided feedback to the Bank of Russia consisting of more than 200 letters with proposals, some of which were incorporated in the final version of the draft law.

At the meeting held at the Far Eastern Main Branch of the Bank of Russia and attended by top management from the mega-regulator and the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation, regional auditors got the chance to obtain first-hand information about the underlying reasons for amendments or proposals, express their views on the draft law, and have their questions answered.

‘Confidence in the reliability and validity of financial information is a key component of confidence in the financial system and its instruments. Similar to the professions of analysts and actuaries, the essence of the auditor’s profession is to instil such confidence’, said First Deputy Governor of the Bank of Russia, Sergey Shvetsov. ‘That is why, today more than ever, the issue of improving auditing quality, especially with regard to socially important organisations, such as banks, insurance companies and companies raising public funds, is coming to the fore’.

The draft law provides for a transfer of the authority to regulate and supervise auditing activities to the Bank of Russia, prescribes the minimum number of auditors per auditing company and clarifies criteria for mandatory audit.

Socially important organisations will be audited by audit companies in the Bank of Russia's register. Additional filters set by the Bank of Russia to regulate auditing companies’ access to such organisations will help enhance auditors’ responsibility and public confidence in the results of their work.

It is assumed that further regional meetings will be held in Yekaterinburg, Krasnodar, Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod, Novosibirsk and St. Petersburg.