On June 17 - 19, 2019, the International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants (IESBA or the Board) met at the offices of the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) in Nashville, Tennessee. Following its meeting, the IESBA provided meeting highlights via a podcast. A summary of those highlights follow:
Chair Stavros Thomadakis noted that the IESBA has passed an important milestone, namely, the effective date of the newly revised and restructured International Ethics Code for Professional Accountants, including International Independence Standards in June 15 (now available as a brand new "e-code").
The IESBA approved the proposed provisions for the Role and Mindset project, which will proceed to an exposure draft to be issued by late July with a 90-day comment period.
The Board provided feedback on draft independence provisions on nonassurance services, which will continue to:
- retain the distinction between public interest entities (PIEs) and non-PIEs;
- introduce prohibitions for audits of PIEs where a self-review threat exists; an
- enhance communication requirements between the auditor and those charged with governance (TCWG).
A revised draft of nonassurance independence provisions will be reviewed by the Consultative Advisory Group with a goal to present an exposure draft to the IESBA at its next meeting in September.
The Fees working group continuing to address threats to compliance arising from fee-related matters, e.g., level of audit fees should not impact the auditor's ability to comply with professional standards; communication of fee-related matters with TCWG for PIE audit clients; public disclosure of certain fee-related information; and strengthened safeguards for all audit clients to address significant client fees.
E-code phase 1 activities have been completed; launching June 26; will consider user feedback and possible enhancements.
The IESBA meets next in NYC on September 16 - 19, 2019.
