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The additional staffing announced for ASIC should focus on the regulation of audit and financing reporting, says CA ANZ.
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CA ANZ welcomes additional staffing for ASIC
16 May 2024
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CA ANZ has commended the government’s move to strengthen ASIC with additional staffing and funding, as announced in the budget this week.
CA ANZ chief executive Ainslie van Onselen said the professional body has regularly stressed the importance of having a strong and well-funded independent regulator for the profession.
“Twenty years on from the government announcing the shift from self-regulation to government-regulation of audit, it's concerning that gaps and uncertainties remain over jurisdiction, powers and resourcing.
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“As we said in our recently released Going Further roadmap, it’s vital that additional funding is focused sufficiently on audit and financial reporting regulation and standards, to provide the coverage needed for government to meet the regulatory mandate it has taken on with respect to these critical aspects of Australia’s capital markets and economy.
Professional bodies and the wider accounting industry raised concerns about ASIC’s regulation of audit and financial reporting after it was revealed last year that ASIC had changed its surveillance approach.
ASIC combined its financial reporting surveillance with its audit inspection programs, which were previously separate, following a review in 2022.
In addition to increased funding, van Onselen said it is also essential to provide clearer regulatory powers for ASIC on quality management at audit firms and relevant governance requirements.
“We must be mindful, however, that an increase in funding for ASIC will likely be paid for via industry levies, business and professionals,” van Onselen said.
CA ANZ said it was also pleasing to see the Australian Accounting Standards Board (AASB) and Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (AUASB) receive appropriate resourcing to support the development of standards for climate-related disclosures and wider sustainability reporting.
“This has been something our members, and the wider profession have been calling for although we await the finer details of where the additional people will be employed,” van Onselen said.
The budget also provides an additional $10 million over four years for ASIC to investigate and take enforcement action against market participants engaging in greenwashing and other sustainability-related financial misconduct.
“This is of significant interest to the profession and something we have identified as an emerging issue the Government needed to address,” said van Onselen.
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