Chartered IIA expresses deep disappointment that Audit Reform Bill excluded from King’s Speech
In response to the Audit Reform Bill being excluded from the King’s Speech today, Anne Kiem OBE the Chief Executive of the Chartered Institute of Internal Auditors said:
“It is deeply disappointing that the Audit Reform Bill has been excluded from the King’s Speech. This legislation is urgently needed to put the audit regulator on a statutory footing with the legal powers it needs to hold company directors and audit firms to account when things go wrong.
“Corporate collapses linked to audit and governance weaknesses, such as BHS, Carillion, Patisserie Valerie, Thomas Cook and Wilko, have already cost tens of thousands of jobs, led to hundreds of retail store closures, hurt investors, cost people their pensions and impacted suppliers.
“This legislation was promised in the last Queen’s speech, so we had reasonably expected it to already have been delivered. That it won’t even be delivered in this Parliamentary session is astonishing. We need to safeguard our future economic prosperity by protecting jobs, growth and investors.”
The exclusion of the legislation came as last week an influential group of 19 MPs and Lords signed a cross-party letter to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak MP urging the Government to include the Audit Reform Bill in the King’s Speech.
The full letter and list of 19 signatories can be downloaded here.
A Briefing on Why do we need an Audit Reform Bill? can be downloaded here.
-ENDS-
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT GAVIN HAYES ON 07900 195591
Notes to editors
About the Chartered Institute of Internal Auditors
The Chartered IIA represents around 10,000 internal audit professionals in organisations spanning all sectors of the economy, across the UK and Ireland. It champions the contribution internal audit makes to good corporate governance, strong risk management and a rigorous control environment leading to the long-term success of organisations, including those in the public sector.
