Belgium Financial Services and Markets Authority chair urges stronger audit culture, ethics and regulator-profession cooperation

The Belgium Financial Services and Markets Authority (FSMA) published Jean-Paul Servais’s closing remarks from an international conference it hosted on strengthening audit quality, organised by the Belgian Audit Oversight Board. Speaking in his capacities as Chair of the International Organization of Securities Commissions and the FSMA, and as Chair of the OECD Corporate Governance Committee, Servais positioned audit quality as dependent on a critical mindset and strong ethical standards. The remarks reiterated audit firms’ responsibility as gatekeepers of market integrity and called for continued collaboration between regulators and the audit profession to improve governance practices and refine the frameworks shaping auditor conduct and reporting in line with international standards and best practices. The FSMA made the speech available.