ISLAMABAD: The Audit Oversight Board (AOB) has removed Qadeer & Company Chartered Accountants from its register of auditors of public interest companies.
The firm had committed multiple violations of the law, including failure to rotate audit partners as required by the code of ethics, failure to disclose an audit partner to AOB as well as concealment of some audit engagements in the audit quality control review.
The action was taken by AOB after providing an opportunity of being heard to the firm.Â
Earlier, a warning was issued to two firms of chartered accountants while the AOB cautioned four others. These six firms had concealed reprimands and penalties given by SECP and ICAP to their audit partners in their professional practice.
AOB is the independent regulatory authority that oversees the quality of audit of financial statements of public interest companies that include all listed companies.
The stakeholders of these companies include investors, shareholders, lenders, and tax authorities which place their trust in the independent assurance provided by external auditors that the financial statements prepared by the management present a true and fair view of the companies’ financial statements. Only the audit firms registered with AOB are authorised to audit the financial statements of a public interest company.
If true audit practices prevails in the country it will help in reducing corruption and increase tax revenues it is the utmost responsibility of the AOB to keep an eagle eye at the activities of the charted accountant firms because they are the real faciliters of the financial crimes.
Then Govt. and stakeholders should hire CAs to avoid such financial losses instead of hiring the people through old dated pattern of CSS. Professionals are only defeated by professionals. Moreover, why AOB is constituted in the presence of QAB of ICAP. Why SECP awoke when all capital from Pakistan had been taken away by illegal means. AOB is only taunting audit firms for “do’ and “Don’t” and nothing more than this.