1. Standing for trust and integrity OROC Congress Ethics and Accountability Lisbon, 22 October 2010 Hilde Blomme FEE Director of Practice Regulation

2. Standing for trust and integrity 2 About FEE  43 professional institutes of more than 500.000 accountants all contributing to a more efficient, transparent and sustainable European economy  32 European countries, including all 27 EU MS

3. Standing for trust and integrity 3 FEE: Representing the Profession and Adding Value to Members Catalyst in Europe

4. Standing for trust and integrity 4 Areas of Activities Company Law Corporate Governance Ethics Auditing Accounting Insurance Banks Financial Reporting Sustainability Qualification and Market Access SMEs-SMPs Public SectorTaxation And more…

5. Standing for trust and integrity 5 Overview: Europe and Ethics  IESBA Code of Ethics in European Countries  European Commission Green Paper on Audit Policy  FEE Discussion Paper on Integrity in Professional Ethics  FEE Comparison Project on Auditor Independence

6. Standing for trust and integrity 6 IESBA Code of Ethics in European Countries

7. Standing for trust and integrity 7 IESBA Code of Ethics in European Countries CountriesStatus#% Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark (FSR), Finland, Romania, Slovenia, Sweden (FAR) IESBA Code of Ethics (2009)828 Belgium, Iceland, Malta, Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland Considering adopting IESBA Code of Ethics (2009) 828 Ireland, UKIESBA Code of Ethics (2009) for cross-border purposes, some institutes also for national purposes 26 EstoniaIESBA Code of Ethics (2009) as best practice 13 Austria, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Poland National ethics code1035 TOTAL29100

8. Standing for trust and integrity 8 European Commission Green Paper on Audit Policy PROPOSALS RE INDEPENDENCE

9. Standing for trust and integrity 9 Green Paper  Proposals re:  Role of auditors  Governance and independence audit firms  Supervision  Concentration and market structure  Creation European Market  Simplification: SMEs & SMPs  International cooperation

10. Standing for trust and integrity 10 Proposals to Enhance Independence of Auditors  Appointment and remuneration of auditors by third party, not company (shareholders)  Mandatory audit tendering  Mandatory audit firm and partner rotation  Prohibition provision non-audit services (NAS) (for all audits?)  Pure audit firms  Limit proportion fees from 1 audit client  European “qualification” passport for auditors with common independence rules (IESBA Code?)  Permit provision of NAS to SMEs, like tax, HR, access to credit, certain accounting

11. Standing for trust and integrity 11 FEE Discussion Paper on Integrity in Professional Ethics

12. Standing for trust and integrity 12 Integrity in Professional Ethics  FEE Discussion Paper  issued in September 2009 for comments by 31 January 2010  30 response letters received  Analysis of responses being finalised  To promote debate  Integrity is the core principle of professional behaviour, but the hardest to understand and instil in people  More focus on guidance and training on integrity rather than independence and objectivity  What does it mean?

13. Standing for trust and integrity 13 Integrity is more than Words... Personal Professional BEHAVIOUR

14. Standing for trust and integrity 14 Culture Information Policies Strategy Leadership Awareness Predictability Transparency Long-term view People Embedding Organisational Integrity Be honest and truthful Deal fairly Comply with laws Promote public interest Show consistency Be open-minded Take corrective action

15. Standing for trust and integrity 15 FEE Comparison Project on Auditor Independence  Relevance of the Code for FEE and FEE Member Bodies  The Case for a Common Code

16. Standing for trust and integrity 16 Discussion and Questions

17. Standing for trust and integrity 17 Standing for trust and integrity Visit us @ www.fee.be