On April 25, 2017, the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) published a consultation paper to obtain stakeholders’ views on introducing enhanced oversight requirements for foreign audit firms. Specifically, the paper discusses a proposal by the Canadian Public Accountability Board (CPAB) to amend National Instrument 52-108 Auditor Oversight (NI 52-108) to require foreign audit firms to register with CPAB as a Participating Audit Firm (PAF) should they be auditing a reporting issuers’ financial statements.

Foreign auditors, also referred to as “component auditors”, are often engaged when a reporting issuer’s operations are in a jurisdiction different from that of the issuer’s head office. In such instances, the issuer or its primary auditor may decide to engage a component auditor to conduct an audit on financials related to foreign operations.Continue Reading A Review of CSA Consultation Paper 52-403: Auditor Oversight Issues in Foreign Jurisdictions

In October 2013, the Canadian Securities Administrators proposed amendments to the auditor oversight rules with the aim of strengthening public confidence in the integrity of financial reporting by reporting issuers. The final version was announced in a recent notice and substantially mirrors the October 2013 version.  Subject to ministerial approvals, National Instrument 52-108 Auditor Oversight