The aim of the Monitoring Group paper (MG paper) is to request views from stakeholders and the public at large on the governance of those institutions involved in the activity of issuing international standards for accountants in the fields of auditing and assurance, ethics and education, with the final goal of improving audit quality.

The Monitoring Group paper follows the completion in 2010 of an effectiveness review of the 2003 IFAC Reforms and aims to build on and completing the effectiveness review through a comprehensive governance review of the full architecture currently in place.

The MG paper presents a number of questions and recommendations across numerous IFAC organisations currently under PIOB oversight including the International Auditing and Assurance Board (IAASB), the International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants (IESBA), the International Accounting Education Standards Board (IAESB) and the Compliance Advisory Panel (CAP), as well as PIOB's oversight of the Nomination Committee of IFAC.

The MG paper also acknowledges a need for independent oversight of the International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board (IPSASB), which could add to its credibility and facilitate wider international adoption of International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS). The report notes the increased importance of this oversight in light of the global financial crisis and sovereign debt issues, and recommends the IPSASB be subject to PIOB oversight, rather than creating an public sector exclusive oversight body.

The PIOB consultation paper seeks views on the review of its mission and medium and long-term strategy and explains the new oversight methodology developed and applied after the recommendations of the MG effectiveness review.

Comments on the consultation papers close on 28 June 2012. Click for press release (link to the IOSCO website).