Centre for Public Interest Audit established
The Centre for Public Interest Audit was incorporated in June to bring together auditors from across the profession to shape best practice and inform the future of PIE audit in the UK.
Centre for Public Interest Audit established
The Centre for Public Interest Audit (CPIA), was incorporated as a not-for-profit company, limited by guarantee in June; this is a new organisation that will bring together auditors from across the profession to shape best practice and inform the future of public interest entity (PIE) audit in the UK.
The CPIA’s ambition is to act as a standalone voice on behalf of all PIE auditors, providing a profession-wide perspective on current and future practice, alongside clear-cut recommendations of areas for development and improvement. The CPIA’s membership will comprise the full spectrum of UK PIE auditors as well as The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) and ICAS. The CPIA is currently engaged on inaugural research on the current state, and future, of PIE audit and will publish its findings in the coming months. Baroness Margaret Ford of Cunninghame, OBE, has been appointed as Chair of the CPIA with further appointments to follow.
The CPIA recognises that audit and assurance plays a critical role in the UK’s capital markets and the importance of tackling the most challenging areas of the industry cannot be underestimated. Its ambition is to proactively identify both shortcomings and best practice in public interest entity audit to support a more robust, resilient, forward-looking audit profession, delivering value for and enabling confidence among all stakeholders. Its mission, therefore, aligns with the UK government’s aim to strengthen regulatory powers and improve public entity audit quality via its upcoming Audit Reform and Corporate Governance Bill. The CPIA will also look to be a supportive and constructive partner to the Financial Reporting Council as their remit transitions.
The objects for which the CPIA is established are:
- to support best practice in auditing public interest entities among all firms carrying out such audit work;
- to advance knowledge and education in relation to auditing public interest entities to promote consistently high standards of audit quality and to support newer entrants into the public interest entity audit market;
- to provide thought leadership on issues that impact the quality of audits of public interest entities; and
- to do all such other things as shall be thought fit to be incidental or conducive to the attainment of the Objects stated above.
