FINMA Revises Circular on Auditing, Makes Rules More Risk-Oriented
FINMA is consulting on revisions to the Circular 2013/03 on Auditing to ensure that auditing firms, who act on behalf of FINMA, operate in a more targeted manner in the future. With this revision, FINMA is orienting the regulatory auditing of banks, securities dealers, and asset managers more toward risks. The consultation ends on January 31, 2018 and the revised circular is due to enter into force on January 01, 2019.
FINMA is reshaping the way in which regulatory auditing is conducted by audit firms to take greater account of risks. Audits will be adapted to the risk situation of supervised institutions, in addition to identifying any challenges that these institutions could face in the future. The aim of these changes will be to heighten the efficiency of audit procedures.
The revisions also propose more focused auditing and less frequent audits for smaller institutions. Under the current system every supervised bank, securities dealer and asset manager is audited on a yearly basis. In future, it is planned that audit firms will only have to conduct regulatory audits on small supervised institutions (categories 4 and 5) not exhibiting high risks every two or three years, respectively. Additionally, for all institutions, the regular audit process will be revised to have a narrower focus, consisting of more in-depth auditing of high-risk areas or focusing on a rotating selection of topics year after year.
Related Link: Press Release
Comment Due Date: January 31, 2018
Effective Date: January 01, 2019
Keywords: Europe,Switzerland, Banking, Securities, Accounting, Regulatory Auditing, Circular 2013/03, FINMA
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