IFIAR Publications

IFIAR develops strategic and operational plans, along with thought leadership papers on key audit quality oversight matters, throughout the year. These publications can be accessed below.

ANNUAL REPORTS

In 2012, IFIAR began publishing annual reports.
2022 IFIAR Annual Report (27 April 2023)
2021 IFIAR Annual Report (28 April 2022)
2020 IFIAR Annual Report (23 April 2021)
2019 IFIAR Annual Report (30 April 2020)
2018 IFIAR Annual Report (16 May 2019)
2017 IFIAR Annual Report (1 May 2018)
2016 IFIAR Annual Report (21 April 2017)
2015 IFIAR Annual Report (30 May 2016)
2014 IFIAR Annual Report (30 April 2015)
2013 IFIAR Annual Report (17 April 2014)
2012 IFIAR Annual Report (25 April 2013)

ANNUAL INSPECTION FINDINGS SURVEY

IFIAR Annual Inspection Findings Survey can be found here.

IFIAR THOUGHT PAPERS

IFIAR Information Paper: Facilitating Oversight of Global Audit Firm Networks
Audit Committees and Audit Quality: Trends and Possible Areas for Further Consideration
IFIAR Report: Internationally Relevant Developments in Audit Markets

STRATEGIC PLAN

IFIAR’s 2021-26 Strategic Plan was adopted by IFIAR Members at the 2021 Plenary Meeting and can be found here

SURVEY OF ENFORCEMENT REGIMES

IFIAR Enforcement Regimes Survey can be found here.

IFIAR CHARTER, CORE PRINCIPLES AND OTHER REFERENCE DOCUMENTS

IFIAR CHARTER

The following are key elements from the IFIAR Charter, for a further look into the IFIAR Charter please download the Charter here (effective as of April 25, 2022).

Activities of IFIAR
Sharing knowledge of the audit market environment and practical experience of independent audit regulatory activities with a focus on inspections of auditors and audit firms. Promoting collaboration and consistency in regulatory activity.

Membership of IFIAR
Members must be independent of the profession and engaged in audit regulatory functions in the public interest.

Officers and Board of IFIAR
IFIAR shall have two Officers, a Chair and a Vice Chair. They shall serve two year terms and though not a requirement, Members should give consideration to geographic balance in the election of Officers. The Officers are responsible for, though not limited to, organising and conducting Plenary Meetings, Chairing the meeting, managing communications and relationships with IFIAR Members and outside organisations, developing a Work Plan for the Officers Term and providing leadership on issues relevant to IFIAR.

Transparency and accountability
IFIAR should operate with a high degree of transparency and should engage issue periodic public reports, issue press releases and maintain a website.

Resources and Funding
IFIAR’s activities will be undertaken on a collaborative basis, with Members and Office bearers meeting their own expenses. However, Members will contribute to the funding of the organisational and administrative resources necessary for IFIAR’s ongoing operations.

IFIAR CORE PRINCIPLES

The core principles seek to promote effective independent audit oversight globally, thereby contributing to Members overriding objective of serving the public interest and enhancing investor protection by improving audit quality. IFIAR membership is not dependent on its status in implementing the principles; however members are encouraged to work towards implementing them where appropriate in their own jurisdictions. The main precondition for an effective system of audit oversight and audit regulation is the existence of a well-developed legal and corporate governance framework as to provide necessary support for high quality auditing. The IFIAR Core Principles for Independent Audit Regulators can be downloaded here.

MULTILATERAL MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING CONCERNING CO-OPERATION IN THE EXCHANGE OF INFORMATION FOR AUDIT OVERSIGHT

On Tuesday June 30, 2015 the MMOU was approved by the IFIAR Membership. The MMOU enables and strengthens the cooperation amongst IFIAR Members. Members can apply to sign the MMOU, and will be subject to an assessment prior to joining the MMOU. The MMOU can be downloaded here. For more information on the MMOU, including a list of signatories, please click here.

PUBLIC COMMENTS

Please click on the link below for a list of IFIAR Public Comments

Public Comments

IFIAR Letter - Comment on IAASB proposed revisions to ISA 570 (Going Concern) - 18 August 2023
href='https://www.ifiar.org/?wpdmdl=15907'>IFIAR Letter - Comment on IESBA Proposed Strategy and Work Plan for 2024-2027 - 26 July 2023
href='https://www.ifiar.org/?wpdmdl=15568'>IFIAR Letter - Comment on IAASB’s proposed revisions to ISA 500 (Revised), Audit Evidence - 24 April 2023
href='https://www.ifiar.org/?wpdmdl=15536'>IFIAR Letter - Comment on the IAASB Proposed Strategy and Work Plan for 2024-2027 - 19 April 2023
href='https://www.ifiar.org/?wpdmdl=14819'>IFIAR Board Letter - Comment on OECD’s Draft Revisions to the G20/OECD Principles of Corporate Governance - 20 October 2022
href='https://www.ifiar.org/?wpdmdl=14781'>IFIAR Letter - Comment on the IAASB Proposed Narrow Scope Amendments to ISA 700 (Revised) and ISA 260 (Revised) - 27 September 2022
href='https://www.ifiar.org/?wpdmdl=14595'>IFIAR Letter - Comment on the IESBA Strategy Survey 2022- 26 July 2022
href='https://www.ifiar.org/?wpdmdl=14456'>IFIAR Letter - Comment on the IESBA Proposed Exposure Draft on Proposed Technology-related Revisions to the Code - 20 June 2022
href='https://www.ifiar.org/?wpdmdl=14428'>IFIAR Letter - Comment on the IESBA Proposed Exposure Draft on Proposed Revisions to the Code Relating to the Definition of Engagement Team and Group Audits - 7 June 2022
href='https://www.ifiar.org/?wpdmdl=13693'>IFIAR Letter - Comments on the IAASB Proposed International Standard on Auditing (ISA) for Audits of Financial Statements of Less Complex Entities (LCE) - 28 January 2022
href='https://www.ifiar.org/?wpdmdl=12181'>IFIAR Letter - Comments on the IAASB Discussion Paper on Fraud and Going Concern in an Audit of Financial Statements - 1 February 2021
href='https://www.ifiar.org/?wpdmdl=11557'>IFIAR Letter - Comments on the IAASB Exposure Draft on ISA 600 - 29 September 2020
href='https://www.ifiar.org/?wpdmdl=11121'>IFIAR Letter - Comments on the IESBA Exposure Draft on Fee-related Provisions – 11 May, 2020
href='https://www.ifiar.org/?wpdmdl=11118'>IFIAR Letter - Comments on the IESBA Exposure Draft on Non-Assurance Services – 11 May, 2020
href='https://www.ifiar.org/?wpdmdl=10120'>IFIAR Letter - Comments on Audits of Less Complex Entities - September 25, 2019
href='https://www.ifiar.org/?wpdmdl=9731'>IFIAR Letter - Comments on the IAASB Exposure Drafts for ISQM 1, ISQM 2 and ISA 220 - July 1, 2019
href='https://www.ifiar.org/?wpdmdl=9698'>IFIAR Letter - Comments on the IAASB Proposed Strategy for 2020-2023 and Work Plan for 2020-2021 - June 4, 2019
href='https://www.ifiar.org/?wpdmdl=8978'>IFIAR Letter - Comments on the Exposure Draft on the Proposed International Standard on Auditing 315 (Revised) - October 30, 2018
href='https://www.ifiar.org/?wpdmdl=8631'>IFIAR Board Letter - Response to IOSCO Consultation Report on Audit Committees - July 24, 2018
href='https://www.ifiar.org/?wpdmdl=8627'>IFIAR Letter - Comments on the IESBA Proposed Strategy and Work Plan - July 24, 2018
href='https://www.ifiar.org/?wpdmdl=2019'>IFIAR Letter - Comments on the IAASB Request for Input on ISA 540 (Revised) - July 31, 2017
href='https://www.ifiar.org/?wpdmdl=2021'>IFIAR Letter - Comments on the IESBA Proposed Revisions Pertaining to Safeguards in the Code - Phase 2 - May 29, 2017
href='https://www.ifiar.org/?wpdmdl=2023'>IFIAR Letter - Comments on the IAASB Request for Input: Exploring the Growing Use of Technology in the Audit, with a Focus on Data Analytics - February 5, 2017
href='https://www.ifiar.org/?wpdmdl=2025'>IFIAR letter - IAASB's Future Priorities including the Work Plan for 2017 - October 11, 2016
href='https://www.ifiar.org/?wpdmdl=2027'>IFIAR Letter - IAASB's Invitation to Comment on Enhancing Audit Quality in the Public Interest - June 24, 2016
href='https://www.ifiar.org/?wpdmdl=2029'>IFIAR Letter - IESBA's Exposure draft on Proposed Revisions Pertaining to Safeguards in the Code - Phase I - May 10, 2016
href='https://www.ifiar.org/?wpdmdl=2664'>IFIAR Letter - IAASB's Exposure Draft on Reponding to Non-Compliance with Laws and Regulations - 18 November 2015
href='https://www.ifiar.org/?wpdmdl=2033'>IFIAR Letter - IESBA's Exposure Draft on Responding to Non-Compliance with Laws and Regulations - 28 September 2015
href='https://www.ifiar.org/?wpdmdl=2035'>IFIAR Letter - IESBA's Structure of the Code of Ethics - 5 March 2015
href='https://www.ifiar.org/?wpdmdl=2037'>IFIAR Letter - OECD's Principles of Corporate Governance - 11 February 2015
href='https://www.ifiar.org/?wpdmdl=2039'>IFIAR Letter - IAASB's Disclosures Exposure Draft - 10 October 2014
href='https://www.ifiar.org/?wpdmdl=2041'>IFIAR Letter - The Auditor's Responsibilities Relating to Other Information - 21 August 2014
href='https://www.ifiar.org/?wpdmdl=2043'>IFIAR Letter - IAASB Strategy - 20 May 2014
href='https://www.ifiar.org/?wpdmdl=2045'>IFIAR Letter - Audit reporting - 12 December 2013

Members’ Inspection, Annual and Other Reports

Please follow the links below to Members most recent Inspection, Annual and Other Reports:

Given recent events in the field of crypto-assets, Consob issued on Dec. 20^th a public statement to Audit firms and statutory auditors, responsible for audit engagements of Public Interest Entities (PIEs) and Entities Subject to Intermediate Regime (ESRIs, mainly financial intermediaries), in relation with audit and assurance engagements related to companies operating in the crypto-asset sector.

Briefly, the above-mentioned public statement draws the attention of the auditors to the high risks, also in terms of anti-money laundering, connected to these activities, considering the potential professional and legal responsibilities deriving from the acceptance and performance of auditing and assurance assignments on persons who operate in the sector. The limits that the crypto-assets sector presents in terms of regulation and transparency, the interconnections that characterize the subjects who operate in it for various reasons, as well as the effects connected to the default events of primary operators in the sector, require auditors to raise the professional skepticism at the highest level.

Consob believe that, given the lack of regulation in the field of crypto-assets, also in terms of oversight of audit and assurance engagements related to companies operating in the crypto-asset sector, the public statement issued by Consob can provide useful inputs to Audit firms and statutory auditors also operating in other jurisdictions.