At its meeting on January 24, 2024, the AASB discussed issues regarding the Canadian exposure draft related to the IAASB’s proposed narrow-scope amendments to International Standards on Quality Management and International Standards on Auditing. Key issues discussed included: (i) the public interest considerations of not adopting the IAASB’s proposed narrow-scope amendments at this time; (ii) the IAASB’s proposed narrow-scope amendments to its review engagement standard; (iii) the Canadian wraparound document, including the questions; and (iv) the other Canadian exposure draft considerations, including the exposure period, the targeted outreach plan, and compliance with the Board’s due process. The AASB, the Public Trust Committee (PTC) and its Independence Standing Committee (ISC) recognize the importance of coordination and collaboration to ensure that the Canadian Independence Standards and the Board’s standards are interoperable and not in conflict. Recognizing the ISC’s role in defining “public interest entity” in the Canadian context, the Board sees merit in deferring the consideration of adopting the IAASB’s narrow-scope amendments until the PTC has completed its due process to finalize its “public interest entity” definition for the Canadian Independence Standards. This deferral allows the Board to evaluate the final updates to the Canadian Independence Standards, once approved by the PTC, and their interoperability with the IAASB’s narrow-scope amendments. The AASB unanimously approved the Canadian exposure draft proposing not to adopt the IAASB revisions at this time. The Board expects to issue the exposure draft in late February 2024, with comments due by April 8, 2024.
Review the Executive Summary on the AASB's Web site.