KPMG hosts 4th Roundtable Session of Audit Committee Forum

Tuesday, 5 May 2015 01:27 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

The Audit Committee Forum provides Audit Committee Members with practical insights and peer-exchange opportunities focused on strengthening oversight of financial reporting and audit quality, and on relevant regulations and best practices. The Forum, which was formed with help from the Sri Lanka Institute of Directors (SLID), has had quarterly sessions since June 2014. The initiative seeks to bring together Audit Committee Members to discuss key issues and challenges in a way that is meaningful and relevant to them and helps them become more effective in their roles. Recognising the increasing importance of governance issues, KPMG in Sri Lanka followed their hosting of the 2nd session of the Forum by also hosting the 4th roundtable session. This discussion was moderated by Suren Rajakarier, Partner and Head of Audit, KPMG in Sri Lanka, who continues to play that pivotal role very effectively for the Forum.

At this session, Rajakarier first addressed key aspects and changes in Sri Lanka Financial Reporting Standard (SLFRS) 10 on Consolidated Financial Statements, and thereafter facilitated discussion around challenges identified by the Forum. He requested members to alert their finance teams about the new single control model pointing to six steps that are important to assess control in relation to SLFRS 10. The discussions that followed addressed challenges such as how audit committees should walk the fine line between oversight and executive involvement, how best to manage meeting time and how best to achieve integrity in reporting. The discussion on integrity in reporting focused on transactions with related parties which were not disclosed as related party transactions, and which were disadvantageous to the company and sometimes transgressed accounting rules such as revenue recognition. Commenting on the Forum, Rajakarier said: “KPMG is pleased to serve the Forum as a knowledge resource and to facilitate the exchange of experience at the roundtable discussions. Our involvement demonstrates commitment to strengthening the capital market rather than an interest in direct financial advantage.” Commenting on the roundtable discussions, Richard Ebell, who has served as Convener of the Forum, said: “Corporate governance has gained widespread prominence in Sri Lanka, as it should. The expectations of shareholders in relation to corporate governance including financial reporting continue to rise, as does scrutiny by the regulators. We are very grateful to KPMG and to Suren Rajakarier for their ready encouragement and support of our initiative. We are also grateful to the Institute of Chartered Accountants for making available a prime venue for some of our sessions, and to SLID for their continuing interest in the development of the Forum.” Many participants said the discussion was effective and very useful. The Forum intends to invite market regulators to their next session, to understand their perspectives and discuss their practical insights towards uplifting the standard of corporate governance in Sri Lanka.