Accountants claim increased scrutiny

The new president of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland said the profession is facing an increasingly different regulatory atmosphere.

Speaking after his election last week the new president of the institute, Terence O’Rourke said he was concerned accountants were being placed under too much scrutiny and some members were considering whether it was worthwhile to be involved in the audit business.

“The truth is that despite the critical role audit plays in the effective operation of financial markets, some audit firms are seriously considering, in the face of increasingly difficult regulation, whether they want to be involved in audit at all,” he said.

“Auditors face intolerable burdens of unlimited liability, and, the real issue here, vastly disproportionate exposure to loss and claim, when compared with the realistic contribution that a good audit can bring to preventing and detecting financial wrongdoing.”

He said there was a need for a more effective audit regime, with sensible limitation to unreasonable liability exposures and with a coherent, workable, consistent framework for audit whistle blowing.