Saudi Arabia's Capital Market Authority approved amendments to the Rules for Registering Auditors of Entities Subject to the Authority's Supervision, effective upon publication. The changes strengthen professional qualification, audit quality management, regulatory inspection and transparency requirements for registered accounting firms. Firms must maintain enough audit managers with a Saudi Organization for Chartered and Professional Accountants fellowship, or an equivalent fellowship accepted by the authority, relative to the nature, scale and complexity of their activities. They must also operate an appropriate quality management system and comply with professional standards when reviewing interim financial statements and auditing annual financial statements of supervised entities. The amendments require firms to cooperate with inspections, provide requested information and implement authority-approved corrective action plans where warranted. Firms must share final inspection findings concerning a listed company’s audit file with its audit committee. Transparency reports must provide information on the firm’s profile, governance and leadership, as well as its quality management system, responsible personnel and annual evaluation results.
Saudi Arabia's Capital Market Authority approves stronger qualification, quality management and inspection rules for auditors
Saudi Arabia's Capital Market Authority strengthened qualification, quality management and transparency requirements for registered accounting firms, with the amendments effective upon publication. Firms must also cooperate with inspections, implement approved corrective actions where required and share relevant final inspection findings with listed companies’ audit committees.