Unquestionably, the restoration of investor confidence will ultimately depend on
both the effectiveness of the AS and the professional commitment of auditors in the
audit assurances work so as to eliminate future recurrence of corporate collapses and
debacles. Strict adherence to the audit procedures and AS are of paramount importance
for auditors when discharging their daily duties. Indeed, audit firm rotation could
restore public confidence in the quality of audited financial statements (Gates et al.,
2007). Users’ expectation of the final product of an audit is the increased credibility
attached to the financial statements signed by the independent auditor. Since an audit
is carried out in sampling and tests basis, accordingly, in the audit report, auditors
believe that an audit provides a reasonable basis for an opinion about the financial
statements (AS, No. 508), but not on absolute assurance. This also provides invaluable
insight to the Hong Kong accounting and regulatory body that immediate attention
need not be focusing on restructuring the ARM.