Auditors need to sit more with banks, FIs' high-ups

Auditors need to sit with the people involved with governance in banks and other financial institutions (FIs) regularly to overcome challenges for proper implementation of new auditor's report, experts said on Saturday.

They also drew attention to changes in the existing approach through starting auditing weeks before a year ends to follow the best international practices.

They were speaking at a technical conference on 'Implementation of New Auditor's Report for Banks and NBFI: Challenges and Way Forward' at CA Bhaban in the city.

The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Bangladesh (ICAB) hosted the event where Sabbir Ahmed, ICAB member council and partner of Hoda Vasi Chowdhury & Co, was the keynote speaker.

He discussed the key changes in the revised International Standard on Auditing (ISA) 700, key features of the new auditor's report and implementation challenges in Bangladesh.

Md Abdul Kader Joaddar, ICAB member council and chief financial officer (CFO) of Standard Chartered Bank, said the revised auditor's report would create massive challenges for auditors.

The auditors need to understand process and risks before highlighting key audit matters (KAM) and give their views on the risks involved, he added.

"But we don't have enough time unless the existing approaches change. Audit starts long before a year ends in good companies. We've to follow that," Mr Joaddar said.

Md Rokonuzzaman, partner of ACNABIN, said auditors here are used to sitting with the audit committee of a business entity once a year after finishing the report.

Terming a single meeting insufficient, he suggested holding multiple meetings as a new audit report now

includes other information, which nobody -- auditors, board members and shareholders-- saw before.

"The more we sit, the more things will get easier," he added.

Moderating the conference, ICAB council member Mahamud Hosain said the ISA 700 was revised following the 2009 global economic meltdown to make it more user-friendly.

He said the ICAB has adopted it and other relevant standards and pronouncements like the standards relating to the new format of auditor's report.

This took effect for audits of financial statements for annual periods beginning on or after January 01, 2018.

Md Salim Uddin, ICAB member council and vice-president (T&R), Md Mahbubur Rahman, CFO, The City Bank Limited, Ashraful Haq Amin, senior vice-president and CFO of ONE Bank Limited and Ashraf-Uz-Zaman Ali, director (audit and advisory services), chartered accountant Rahman Rahman Huq were the panel discussants.

An estimated 150 ICAB practising members and those working with banks and NBFIs participated in the event.

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