Auditors at CMA-supervised establishments required to submit transparency reports: official

Sami Alshorafa, Director of the Financial Statements and Auditors Division at the Capital Market Authority (CMA)

Sami Alshorafa, Director of the Financial Statements and Auditors Division at the Capital Market Authority (CMA), said the market regulator issued in late 2018 regulations for the registration of auditors at the establishments under its supervision.

In early 2019, the CMA started receiving applications for the registration of chartered accountants and accounting bureaus. The total number of chartered accountants registered with the CMA reached 41 at 13 registered offices to date.

The rules of auditor registration at the establishments under the CMA supervision direct registered accounting offices to publish an annual transparency report on their websites within a maximum period of four months from the fiscal year-end.

The move aims to enhance the principle of stock market disclosure and transparency and provide an easy access to the information related to the CMA-registered accounting offices.

The annual report will include information, data and ratios to help stock market participants, especially the audit committees at listed companies, assess the quality of audit services. It will also cover a description of the regulatory form of a registered accounting office, including its parent office or affiliates, as well as the related regulatory arrangements.

The report also includes information about the governance of registered offices, with a description of their organizational structure, the applicable monitoring system, information about the latest internal investigation process and bases for partners’ rewards, Alshorafa explained.

It will also cover the details of legal claims; the penalties imposed on the registered accounting office or chartered accountants; a list of the office clients, information about the continuing vocational education of the employees responsible for auditing the establishments under the CMA supervision; the total working hours at those establishments, the financial statements of the last fiscal year and Saudization rates.

Alshorafa concluded that the transparency reports issued by the audit bureaus help dealers, especially investors and shareholders, obtain the largest possible amount of information about the bureau and its efficient business. This aims to evaluate a bureau when taking a decision on appointing it as auditores.

To view registered accounting firms and Certified Public Accountants (CPAs), visit the CMA website: https://cma.org.sa/en/Market/rafs/Pages/default.aspx