Audit profession gives support to reform of liability rules / Consultation shows support for action on non-EU audit firms / Report shows progress in convergence of accounting standards in key partner countries

Three separate articles.

1. In January 2007, the European Commission launched a public consultation on the possible reform of auditors' liability re-gimes in the EU. The consultation was based on an inde-pendent study on the economic impact of current auditors’ liability regimes and on insurance conditions in Member States.

2. The European Commission recently undertook a public consultation on the regulation of non-EU audit firms. Overall, respondents support Commission action within the framework of the Directive on Statutory Audit to regulate and supervise non-EU audit firms, as well as to increase co-op-eration with competent authorities from non-EU countries.

3. A report has been published by the Commission on the work underway in Canada, Japan and the United States on convergence between their national Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAPs) and the International Finan-cial Reporting Standards (IFRS) used in the EU.