New guidelines set for audit firms

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MANILA, Philippines — The central bank has come out with new guidelines for audit firms when dealing with local banks as part of efforts to maintain the stability of the local financial system.

In a statement on Friday, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said it had approved a new set of “principles” for external auditors, which play a key role in ensuring that local companies stick to strict corporate governance rules.

Among others, audit firms were told to set “reasonable” prices for their services, the main criteria being the complexity of the work they are asked to do. The aim, the BSP said, would be to avoid prices that would “compromise” the quality of audits.

The BSP also moved to increase the sharing of information between auditors and bank supervisors to better orient the former of issues that may be of concern to regulators.

The guidelines for audit firms were issued following a meeting between members of the inter-agency Financial Sector Forum, which is composed by the heads of the BSP, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp., and the Insurance Commission.