At the meeting of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Finance, Tax and Customs Policy on May 10, 2022, the draft law of Ukraine “On Amendments to the Law of Ukraine “On audit of financial statements and auditing” on ensuring audit activities during martial law and post-war economic recovery” (hereinafter – the Draft Law) registered on May 04, 2022, under No. 7347 was considered and passed.
The draft law was initiated by the Audit Public Oversight Board (decision of the Oversight Board of March 21, 2022, No 3/45 ) and submitted to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine in order to establish legal mechanisms to stimulate auditing activities and protect the interests of auditors and audit entities during martial law or war and post-war reconstruction.
The provisions of the draft law stipulate, inter alia, the following:
exclusion from the Register of Auditors and Audit Entities (hereinafter – “the Register”) of auditors holding citizenship of a country that has committed armed aggression against Ukraine, or included in the relevant public registers of countries carrying out armed aggression against Ukraine, either work or own property, manage audit firms registered in a country that carries out armed aggression against Ukraine, as well as audit entities that have among their founders (participants, shareholders), directly or indirectly, citizens or economic entities of the country carrying out armed aggression against Ukraine, as well as members of a network registered on the territory of a country carrying out armed aggression against Ukraine, and non-inclusion in the Register of relevant auditors and audit entities;
reducing the financial burden on auditors and audit entities by temporarily waiving the payment of fees as a percentage of remuneration under a contract for the provision of the statutory audit services in favour of the Audit Public Oversight Body and the Audit Chamber of Ukraine, reducing the fixed fee to 1 minimum wage to the Audit Public Oversight Body and 0.1 minimum wage to the Audit Chamber of Ukraine, as well as exemption of audit entities from paying membership fees to the Audit Chamber of Ukraine; suspending temporarily the provisions of the Law of Ukraine “On audit of financial statements and auditing” on the application of penalties for non-payment of the respective fees by auditors and audit entities;
спрощення порядку атестації, зокрема особи, які мають вищу освіту та досвід роботи у сфері бухгалтерського обліку, ревізії, права, фінансів, банківської справи, економіки або аудиту не менше трьох років, атестуються за результатами складання лише кваліфікаційного іспиту, забезпечення організації якого пропонується тимчасово покласти на Орган суспільного нагляду за аудиторською діяльністю, зупинення вимоги щодо проходження стажування кандидатів у аудитори, зупинення тимчасово вимоги щодо проходження аудиторами безперервного професійного навчання;
suspension of the timing established by the Law of Ukraine “On audit of financial statements and auditing”, in particular, the deadline for submitting changes of the information disclosed in the Register , the frequency of audit quality control by audit entities and and term for the implementation of mandatory recommendations by audit entities, as well as the term of consideration of disciplinary proceedings of auditors and audit entities;
simplifying the requirements for the internal organisation of audit entities with the right to conduct the statutory audit of the financial statements of the public interest entities, in particular, abolishing the requirement for the presence of such audit firms to have two persons passed attestation under Law of Ukraine “On audit of financial statements and auditing”, or have a certificate (diploma) from professional organisations certifying knowledge of international financial reporting standards;
conducting quality control inspections during martial law and 6 months after its abolition only with the consent of audit entities.
Together we will win! Glory to Ukraine!
