The second Audit Quality Assurance Forum convened on November 7-8 in Skopje, North Macedonia, bringing together 51 representatives from competent authorities in the field of audit public oversight across Western Balkan countries. Ministries of finance and professional accounting associations, which play a crucial role in this domain, were also present.
The knowledge sharing event on "Good Practices in Audit Oversight and Enforcement: Insights from the Polish Agency for Audit Oversight" took place on October 3-4, 2023, in Warsaw. This event, organized by the World Bank Centre for Financial Reporting Reform, was part of the regional project The Road to Europe Program of Accounting Reform and Institutional Strengthening for Small and Medium Enterprises (REPARIS for SMEs).
On July 4th, key stakeholders met in Pristina to discuss how to improve the approximation to the EU acquis in the field of accounting and auditing and strengthen the functionality of the public oversight system in Kosovo.
The inaugural meeting of the Regional Audit Quality Assurance Forum was held in Vienna on May 16-17, 2023. The event was organized under the Road to Europe Program of Accounting Reform and Institutional Strengthening for Small and Medium Enterprises (REPARIS for SMEs) and for representatives of competent authorities responsible for public oversight and quality assurance in the Western Balkans countries. The event was attended by 60 participants including from public oversight bodies, professional accounting organizations (PAOs), and ministries of finance.
As part of the Strengthening Quality of Auditing and Reporting Project (SQARP) for the Republic of Albania the Albanian Public Oversight Board benefited from an exchange of experience with the Austrian Audit Oversight Authority. A two-day workshop was delivered on March 23-24, 2023, in Tirana, Albania.
Three webinars were held between 8 June and 10 June 2021 under STAREP regional program and these were attended by about 40 participants each day.
The overall aim of the experience exchange webinars was to learn from Slovenian experience related to the establishment of an independent public oversight function, entry requirements and registration of auditors and audit firms; monitoring of continuing professional development; quality assurance inspections and enforcement procedures, as well as cooperation with foreign audit regulators.
A roundtable involving key stakeholders was organized by the World Bank and the Ministry of Finance of Kazakhstan under Joint Economic Research Program (JERP) on March 30, 2021. The event was attended by about 45 participants.
The key objective of the event was to discuss the content of the provisions of the new model of audit oversight function in Kazakhstan.
Four series of webinars were delivered between 09 February and 12 February 2021 and these were attended by about 80 participants each day.
Over 300 stakeholders, including policymakers, representatives from the academia, the profession, regulators, private and public sector employers and representatives from the business community, met in Becici, Montenegro on October 20, 2017 to attend a World Bank Centre for Financial Reporting Reform (CFRR) workshop focusing on accountancy education.
A World Bank Centre for Financial Reporting Reform (CFRR) workshop in Vienna on October 24 and 25, 2017, reviewed the role of accounting and auditing regulation and specifically how better enforcement can help improve compliance with audit standards, namely international accounting standards (ISA). It also considered the contribution of non-financial reporting and ensuring adequate requirements are in place.