Statutory Functions of the Authority

The Authority’s statutory functions are set out in section 9 of the Act. They include, inter alia, the following:

to grant recognition to bodies of accountants for the purposes of section 187 of the Companies Act, 1990 (i.e. recognition to bodies of accountants for audit purposes);
to attach terms and conditions to accountancy bodies’ audit recognition, including terms and conditions:
- requiring changes to, and the approval by the Authority of, their regulatory plans; and
- requiring their annual reports to the Authority to be prepared in the manner and form directed by the Authority;
to require changes to, and approve:
- the constitution and bye-laws of each prescribed accountancy body including its investigation and disciplinary procedures and its standards; and
- any amendments to the approved constitution or bye-laws of each prescribed accountancy body, including amendments to its investigation and disciplinary procedures and to its standards;
to conduct enquiries into whether a prescribed accountancy body has complied with its investigation and disciplinary procedures, as approved by the Authority;
to undertake investigations into possible breaches of the standards of a prescribed body (i.e. by a member);
to supervise how each recognised accountancy body monitors those of its members and member firms authorised to perform audits under the Companies Acts;
to undertake reviews of members of recognised accountancy bodies for the purposes of determining whether those bodies have been, or are, regulating their members in the manner approved;
to co-operate with the recognised accountancy bodies and other interested parties in developing standards relating to the independence of auditors and to monitor the effectiveness of those standards;
to monitor the effectiveness of provisions of the Companies Acts relating to the independence of auditors;
to supervise the investigation and disciplinary procedures of each prescribed accountancy body;
to arrange for the regulation and supervision of individually authorised auditors by recognised accountancy bodies;
to co-operate with the prescribed accountancy bodies and other interested parties in developing auditing and accounting standards and practice notes;
to review whether the accounts of certain companies and other undertakings comply with the Companies Acts and, where applicable, the IAS Regulation (i.e. IFRS); and
to perform the functions of examining that information referred to in the Transparency Directive is drawn up in accordance with the relevant reporting framework, and take appropriate measures in case of discovered infringements.