Quality assurance

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.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ (ASEAN’s) Audit Regulatory Group (AARG) has partnered with the World Bank to build on and support existing efforts to share knowledge and promote good practices of audit oversight within the countries that make up the ASEAN Community. This collaborative workshop in Bangkok continued the establishment of the Audit Oversight Community of Practice for the prospective AARG members (AOCoP) i.e. the Philippines, Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and Vietnam.

On 26 November, 2018, the World Bank’s Centre for Financial Reporting Reform (CFRR) held the Senior Officials’ Workshop in Vienna, including senior officials from the Ministries of Finance and audit oversight institutions from the six Western Balkan countries (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia), to discuss and reflect upon the status and implementation of their financial reporting reforms.

The conference on October 2nd featured speakers from the World Bank, the Professional Accountancy Organization Development Committee of the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC), as well as representatives from Professional Accountancy Organizations (PAOs) in Poland, the Kyrgyz Republic, and Georgia. The discussions focused on changes in Accounting Law, how to achieve smooth transition by learning good international practices and overcoming challenges, as well as the implications to the accounting profession.

The series of Internal Audit Training of Trainers (IA ToT) workshops within the SAFE program continues, and the IA ToT Community of Practice met in Vienna during June 4-7, 2018 when then Advanced Module was delivered. The overall aim of the Program is to develop the capacity of public sector internal auditors to deliver high-quality internal audit training within their countries/institutions, based on the International Standards for the Professional Practice of Internal Auditing (ISPPIA) and international good practices in public sector internal auditing.