OBJECTIVE

The IESBA has undertaken a project to review and compare the terms and concepts in the revised and restructured Code (specifically the International Independence Standards, Part 4B – Independence for Other Assurance Engagements Other than Audit and Review Engagements) and the IAASB’s ISAE 3000 (Revised), Assurance Engagements other than Audits or Reviews of Historical Financial Information.

Disruptive technologies have significantly impacted the work of accountants, including auditors and those in the finance and advisory fields, especially in terms of the technology and approaches they use. To address this, the IESBA had multiple technology-related workstreams from 2021 to 2022.

OBJECTIVE

The objective of the IESBA’s Fees project is to review the provisions in the International Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants (including the International Independence Standards) (the Code) pertaining to fee-related matters. The project is responsive to a public interest need for IESBA to deal with fee-related matters, including those that impact or are perceived to impact auditor independence – both independence of mind and independence in appearance.  

Objective

The objective of the IESBA’s Non-assurance Services (NAS) project is to is to ensure that all the NAS provisions in the Code are robust and of high quality for global application, thereby increasing confidence in the independence of audit firms. The project scope will encompass the International Independence Standards related to the provision of NAS to audit clients.

OBJECTIVE

The objective the IESBA’s Role and Mindset Expected of Professional Accountants (Role and Mindset) project is to ensure that the Code promotes the role, mindset and behavioral characteristics expected of all professional accountants when performing their professional activities.

To help our stakeholders understand the IESBA’s recent proposed Code of Ethics changes to promote role and mindset expectation, the IESBA hosted a webinar detailing these changes.

Listen to IESBA Deputy Chair Richard Fleck share an overview of the proposed revisions, including:

• Highlighting professional accountants’ wide-ranging role in society and the relationship between compliance with the Code and the responsibility to act in the public interest;
• Enhancing the robustness of the fundamental principles of integrity, objectivity and professional behavior;
• Requiring an inquiring mind when applying the conceptual framework; and
• Highlighting the importance of being aware of bias and having the right organizational culture.

Comments to the Exposure Draft, Proposed Revisions to Promote the Role and Mindset Expected of Professional Accountants, are requested by October 31, 2019. For more information, please visit the Role and Expectations web page.

To help our stakeholders understand the IESBA’s recent proposed Code of Ethics changes to promote role and mindset expectation, the IESBA hosted a webinar detailing these changes.

Listen to IESBA Deputy Chair Richard Fleck share an overview of the proposed revisions, including:

The IESBA recently proposed changes to its Code of Ethics to promote the role and mindset expected of all professional accountants. To learn more about the key proposed changes, we invite you to our 60-minute webinar on Tuesday, September 10, 2019 at 8 am EST.

• Register Now

During the webinar, IESBA Deputy Chair Richard Fleck will provide an overview of the proposed revisions, which include:

• Highlighting professional accountants’ wide-ranging role in society and the relationship between compliance with the Code and a professional accountant’s responsibility to act in the public interest;

• Enhancing the robustness of the fundamental principles of integrity, objectivity and professional behavior;

• Requiring professional accountants to have an inquiring mind when applying the conceptual framework; and

• Highlighting the importance of being aware of bias and having the right organizational culture.

Comments to the Exposure Draft, Proposed Revisions to Promote the Role and Mindset Expected of Professional Accountants, are requested by October 31, 2019.

If you have any questions about this webinar, please email IESBA.

Gaylen R. Hansen became Chair of the International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants’ (IESBA) Consultative Advisory Group (CAG) in July 2019. 

Mr. Hansen retired as an audit partner of Plante Moran in 2018 following over forty years of engagement in the accounting profession.  His career has encompassed lengthy periods in public practice as an auditor and quality control partner, and briefly as the controller of a small private company that went public during his tenure.  He has been a sole practitioner and an audit manager with Arthur Andersen and later Price Waterhouse.  Since 2010, he has represented the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) on the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board’s Consultative Advisory Group (CAG).  Since 2016, he has served on the AICPA’s Auditing Standards Board, which promulgates practice standards for the audits of all U.S. non-issuers. 

Previously he served as a chair of NASBA and served on the Colorado State Board of Accountancy, which regulates and disciplines all of the state’s certified public accountants and their firms.  He has also served on the AICPA’s Professional Ethics Committee (PEEC) that establishes and enforces the ethics and independence requirements in the AICPA’s Code of Professional Conduct.  He is a prior member of the PCAOB’s Standing Advisory Group (SAG) and during 2007 – 2008 served on the U.S. Treasury's Advisory Committee on the Auditing Profession (ACAP).  ACAP conducted the first comprehensive study of the U.S. accounting profession after the passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.  ACAP made many strategic recommendations to enhance the profession’s sustainability and effectiveness.  He has spoken frequently at conferences, seminars and roundtables in these various capacities.

Mr. Hansen obtained a bachelor’s degree in business administration with a major in accounting from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona and a master’s degree in business administration with an emphasis in international business from California State University, Fullerton.  In 2005, he was a founding member of NASBA’s Center for the Public Trust and in 2018 was the recipient of NASBA’s William H. Van Rensselaer Public Service Award.  Currently, he serves as a volunteer trustee and the audit committee chair of the American University of Iraq, Sulaimani.  He is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Colorado Society of Certified Public Accountants.