Certified Public Accountants were not involved in the drafting of the legislative proposal, nor were they informed in advance of the bill that calls into question the future of auditing and its quality.
A general vote on the bill intended to transpose the European Directive and ensure the adoption of the European Regulation concerning audits and specific requirements to be verified at public-interest entities is scheduled for tomorrow (June 5).
The Institute of Certified Public Accountants finds it surprising that the vote on the proposed law was scheduled on such short notice. The rushed legislative process compromises the quality of the legislation, limits public participation, and runs counter to publicly advocated best practices. It also runs counter to the procedures being followed by other Member States, where transposition is taking place in a measured and participatory manner, thereby excluding Portugal from the opportunity to share any best practices that may be adopted.
The bill was introduced as part of the solution needed to prevent problems such as those that have recently occurred from happening in the future. The Order does not identify any measure in the bill that would effectively contribute to the intended improvement; in fact, it considers that not only does the bill fail to improve the quality of auditing, but it may even compromise it in the future, thereby undermining the public interest—which is the ultimate purpose of auditing functions.
The Order, which was not consulted, has been striving to continuously improve the quality of auditing and is convinced that the proposed law is a false hope that a solution has been found.
The directive must be transposed by June 2016, which allows time to develop a consistent solution that will effectively benefit those who rely on the services of certified public accountants.
José Azevedo Rodrigues
President of the Order of Certified Public Accountants
Lisbon, June 4th, 2015