Financial Reporting Council
Annual Report
2008-09
© Commonwealth of Australia 2009
ISBN 978-0-642-74554-5
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14 October 2009
The Hon Chris Bowen MP
Minister for Financial Services,
Superannuation and Corporate Law
Parliament House
CANBERRA ACT 2600
Dear Minister
I have pleasure in presenting the annual report of the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) for the year ended 30 June 2009.
The report has been prepared in accordance with sections 235B and 235BA of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission Act 2001 (ASIC Act).
Subsection 235B(1) of the ASIC Act requires the FRC to prepare a report on its operations during the year, and on the achievement of the objects of Part 12 of the ASIC Act relating to accounting and auditing standards. Subsection 235BA(1) of the Act requires the FRC to prepare a report on its performance of its auditor independence functions, the findings and conclusions reached by the FRC in performing those functions, and the actions (if any) taken by the FRC in respect of those findings and conclusions.
Subsections 235B(4) and 235BA(3) of the ASIC Act require the report to be tabled in each House of the Parliament as soon as practicable.
Yours sincerely
SIGNED
Jeffrey Lucy AM
Chairman
Enquiries
Initial queries relating to the Financial Reporting Council's annual report may be directed to the Secretary, Financial Reporting Council:
Location:
Secretary
Financial Reporting Council
c/- The Treasury
Langton Crescent
PARKES ACT 2600
Telephone: 02 6263 3144
Facsimile: 02 6263 2770
Email: frcsecretary@treasury.gov.au
Website: http://www.frc.gov.au
Abbreviations
The following abbreviations are used throughout this report:
- AASB
- Australian Accounting Standards Board
- ADB
- Asian Development Bank
- AICD
- Australian Institute of Company Directors
- AOSSG
- Asian-Oceania Standards Setters Group
- APES
- Accounting Professional and Ethical Standard
- APESB
- Accounting Professional and Ethical Standards Board
- APRA
- Australian Prudential Regulatory Authority
- AQRB
- Audit Quality Review Board
- ASA
- Australian Auditing Standard
- ASBJ
- Accounting Standards Board of Japan
- ASIC
- Australian Securities and Investments Commission
- ASIC Act
- Australian Securities and Investments Commission Act 2001
- ASQC
- Australian Quality Control Standard
- ASRB
- Accounting Standards Review Board — New Zealand
- ASX
- Australian Stock Exchange
- AUASB
- Auditing and Assurance Standards Board
- CAC Act
- Commonwealth Authorities and Companies Act 1997
- CALDB
- Companies Auditors and Liquidators Disciplinary Board
- Corporations Act
- Corporations Act 2001
- CPP
- Certificate of Public Practice
- EFRAG
- European Financial Reporting Advisory Group
- FASB
- Financial Accounting Standards Board (of the United States)
- FCAG
- Financial Crisis Advisory Group
- FMA Act
- Financial Management and Accountability Act 1997
- FRC
- Financial Reporting Council
- FSB
- Financial Stability Board
- G100
- Group of 100 Inc
- GAAP
- Generally Accepted Accounting Principles
- GFC
- Global Financial Crisis
- GFS
- Government Finance Statistics
- IAASB
- International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board
- IAS
- International Accounting Standards
- IASB
- International Accounting Standards Board
- IASC Foundation
- International Accounting Standards Committee Foundation
- ICAA
- The Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia
- IFAC
- International Federation of Accountants
- IFRS
- International Financial Reporting Standards
- IMF
- International Monetary Fund
- IPSASB
- International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board
- ISA
- International Standard on Auditing
- ISQC
- International Quality Control Standard
- MOU
- Memorandum of Understanding
- MOU Bodies
- APRA, ASIC, ASX, CPA Australia, ICAA and NIA
- NIA
- National Institute of Accountants
- PCAOB
- Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States)
- PPC
- Public Practice Certificate
- QA
- Quality Assurance
- RCAs
- Registered Company Auditors
- SEC
- Registered company auditors
- SMEs
- Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises
- SMSF
- Self-Managed Superannuation Fund
- TTAASAG
- Trans-Tasman Accounting and Auditing Standards Advisory Group
- Treasury
- Australian Treasury
Australian auditors, auditors, individual auditors, audit firms and audit companies
The ASIC and Corporations Acts use a number of terms to describe the individuals, firms and companies that may be appointed as auditor for a company or a registered scheme under Part 2M.4 of the Corporations Act.
The expression 'Australian auditor', which is used in Part 12 of the ASIC Act for setting the scope of the FRC's auditor independence function, is defined in section 5 of that Act to mean an individual auditor, an audit firm or an audit company.
In the Corporations Act, the terms 'individual auditor', 'audit firm' and 'audit company' are used to describe the manner in which the requirements of the Act apply to the different structures under which an audit practice may be conducted: sole trader, partnership and company.
For purposes of consistency and to simplify drafting, this report uses the expression audit firm to refer to all three structures.