FRC Culture Conference - Session 1: Building an audit firm culture that supports high quality audit
News types: Corporate Reports, Generic Announcement, Guidance, Policies and Responsibilities, Policy Statements, Statements
Published: 17 May 2021
The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) will be holding an international conference in June entitled Audit Firm Culture: Challenge. Trust. Transformation to explore the link between audit firm culture and audit quality with the objective of accelerating the pace of change for cultural transformation in the audit profession. The conference will consist of five lunchtime webinars (Monday 21 June – Friday 25 June) with a range of leading speakers and panellists.
The first session, Building an audit firm culture that supports high quality audit , will take place on Monday 21 June 2021 13:00 to 14:15 (BST).
This session will consider the characteristics of audit firm culture that are most important in supporting a culture that delivers high quality audit. It will also explore drivers of behaviour that can promote or inhibit an appropriate audit firm culture. The session will consider the following questions:
- What are the characteristics of an audit firm culture that are most important in supporting high quality audit?
- What drivers of behaviour within an audit firm can either promote or damage attempts to establish and embed an appropriate audit firm culture?
The session will be moderated by FRC CEO, Sir Jon Thompson and will include the following speakers:
Roger Steare, The Corporate Philosopher
Roger Steare is one of the leading experts advising and coaching Boards and executive teams building high performing, high integrity organizational cultures. His work with BP after the Gulf of Mexico disaster has been crucial to the company’s recovery plan, with Roger’s ethical leadership training endorsed within the US Department of Justice Consent Agreement of 2016. He has advised Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds Bank and RBS after the credit crisis, PPI mis-selling and Libor manipulation scandals, with his work publicly endorsed by the Financial Conduct Authority. His most recent assignments have included Senior Advisor, People & Culture at Nationwide Building Society; and work on ethics with Clifford Chance and other global professional service firms. Roger has worked with clients to achieve these results by using a robust evidence-based approach. He has conducted extensive empirical research on both personal and professional integrity, with his MoralDNA® Profile cited in papers published by the Chartered Management Institute, the Chartered Insurance Institute, EY, the FCA, Oliver Wyman and PWC. Roger is Corporate Philosopher in Residence at The Business School, City University. He is also a post-graduate faculty member at Duke Corporate Education, Emeritus Executive Education, the FT’s Headspring Executive Development and London Business School.
Kevin Dancey, CEO, International Federation of Accountants (IFAC)
Kevin Dancey became IFAC’s Chief Executive Officer in January 2019. Kevin has a long history of leadership in the accountancy profession as well as in public service. As Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants President and CEO, Kevin led the Canadian accountancy profession’s unification, becoming CPA Canada’s first President and CEO after the merger. His experience also includes serving as the Assistant Deputy Minister, Tax Policy, at Finance Canada (1993-1995), on the Canadian Auditor General Panel of Senior Advisors (2006-2015) and as an Auditing and Assurance Standards Oversight Committee member (2017-2018) and CCAF-FCVI Inc. board member (2008-2013). Kevin’s international accountancy experience includes the Public Interest Oversight Board (2017-2018), the IFAC board (2006-2012) and the Global Accounting Alliance (2006-2016), where he was also Chair from 2008 to 2012. Prior to joining the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants, Kevin was PwC’s Canadian Senior Partner and CEO and was a PwC Global Leadership Team member from 2001-2005.
Dr Yasmine Chahed, Visiting Research Fellow at Alliance Manchester Business School
Dr Yasmine Chahed connects the worlds of academia, policymaking, and practice to deliver insights that matter. She combines insight from 15+ years of independent academic research and teaching on the history and sociology of law and accounting at the London School of Economics. Outside the university, Yasmine is a trusted adviser to senior executives and technical teams in the public and private sector. Most recently, she was a member of the FRC’s Future of Corporate Reporting team and worked with Sir Donald Brydon on his Independent Review into the Quality and Effectiveness of Audit.