This event has now taken place but you can watch the video recording of it through our Youtube Channel, get to it by clicking the button below

When

Wednesday, July 21st from 6pm to 8pm UK time"

Where

Online symposium via Zoom.

Format

There'll be a great line-up of speakers plus ample scope for discussion and debate.

Why you should attend

The Transparency Task Force believes that there is a drastic need to reform the audit profession. It is riddled with conflicts of interest that work against consumers’ interest and it let’s down investors.

Many people believe that the audit industry is in crisis. It sometimes seems to be dysfunctional and in disarray. Being dominated by the big four accounting firms, there is little choice and competition at the top-end of the market.

Furthermore, the industry is routinely mired in scandals. Auditors lack independence, enjoy too many liability concessions and have weak and ineffective regulators. The industry sets its own standards which are about as low as they can be and shuns public accountability. It engages in poor organisational practices where time budgets are inadequate, audit teams are led by novices, work is off-shored and sometimes even falsified. A steady stream of scandals is the inevitable result; and that’s exactly what we’ve been seeing.

We’re left with several thought-provoking questions:

Is the audit sector fit for purpose?
Who and what is being harmed as a consequence of its failures?
Does “audit” mean what people think it means? – and if not, what should be done to make an audit an….audit?
Should the big four accounting firms be broken up?
Should auditors only be allowed to operate as auditors?
Should audits be carried out jointly; or perhaps even independently?
What’s the right way for auditors to be remunerated?
Should a state body be set up to robustly regulate the sector?
What can be done to make the organisational practices of audit firms to be made more transparent?

This symposium will shine a light on the issues, by daring to consider the case for radical reform of the audit profession.