The International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) objectives of securities regulation include protecting investors and ensuring that markets are fair, efficient and transparent. One avenue IOSCO has pursued to address these issues is to consider the role of audit firms, and in particular the practices employed by audit firms to be transparent in their own reporting to investors and other stakeholders about the firm itself, notably, with respect to firm governance and elements of their system of quality control for their financial statement audits (“audit firm transparency reporting” or merely “transparency reporting”). IOSCO recognizes that audit firm transparency reporting is a fairly recent practice that continues to evolve, as evidenced by its work in this area which has preceded developing this Statement.
Transparency reporting can foster internal introspection and discipline within audit firms and may encourage audit firms to sharpen their focus on audit quality, which would also be of benefit to investors and other stakeholders. In addition, in comparing audit firms competing for an audit engagement, audit firm transparency reporting can aid those responsible for selecting a public company’s auditor in their decision making process by providing information on a firm’s audit quality.