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The EU Debate about Audit Reform

Date and time: 17 January 2013 09:30

As the crisis has led many observers to identify shortcomings in the financial reporting of financial institutions, the European Commission has introduced proposals for audit reform in November 2011. The current legislative debate on these proposals involves possible restrictions on services provided by audit firms, obligations for issuers to regularly change auditors (“mandatory rotation”), and interactions between reforms in the EU and in other parts of the world. While this endeavor has received comparatively less public attention that those concerning credit rating agencies, let alone banking supervision, it has potentially far-reaching consequences in terms of the structures of the European audit market, relations between auditors and their corporate clients, and the information content of financial disclosures to investors and other stakeholders.

Speakers

Nathalie Berger, Head of Audit and Credit Rating Agencies Unit, European Commission DG MARKT

Nathalie Berger took her present position as Head of Unit for Audit and credit rating agencies in the Directorate General for the Internal Market and Services of the European Commission in 2012. She is responsible for leading the reform of the statutory audit legislative framework in the European Union and the cooperation with third countries on audit oversight. She is also responsible for the credit rating agencies legislative framework.

After joining the European Commission in September 2000, she worked on the modernization of the financial markets legislation (“Lamfalussy reform”), and was later seconded to the Commission Task Force on the Future of the Union, taking part in the work of the European Convention and the Intergovernmental Conference. She has in-depth experience in company law and corporate governance and in political coordination.

She started her career as an academic and public speaker, working in parallel as a consultant in European Affairs for the Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations, and also spending six months as Legal Advisor for the Bertelsmann Liaison Office in Brussels.

A French national, she holds a Ph.D. Doctorate in Law (1998) and a Bachelor of Arts in Politics (1991).

Vincent Papa, Director, Financial Reporting Policy, CFA Institute

Vincent Papa leads work on financial reporting in London for the policy arm of the CFA Institute, the global organisation of investment professionals. He also serves in advisory bodies to the Financial Stability Board, International Accounting Standards Board, and European Financial Reporting Advisory Group. Before joining CFA Institute in 2007, he worked for Accenture and KPMG in Johannesburg and Observatory Capital in London. He holds a PhD in Finance and Accounting from Cranfield University, a Masters in Finance from London Business School and a MBA from Witwatersrand University.

Chair: Nicolas Véron, Senior Fellow, Bruegel