December 19, 2022 | 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines — The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has underscored its commitment to accountability and sustainability.
SEC chairperson Emilio Aquino said the corporate regulator would continue to establish best practices toward sound and prudent use of public funds.
“As regulator of the corporate sector, the SEC will continue to establish best practices toward the sound and prudent use of public funds, as well work for the improvement of audit quality, in order to promote trust and confidence in the business community,” Aquino said.
The Philippine Institute of Certified Public Accountants (PICPA) recently recognized Aquino and SEC general accountant Emmanuel Artiza for their contributions toward transparency and accountability as accountants in the government service.
Aquino was named as a Special Achievement Awardee in International Professional Involvement for his “active participation in international affairs and programs that promote good governance and sustainability reporting.”
Artiza, meanwhile, was hailed as a Special Achievement Awardee in Government Service for consistently promoting the highest standards in the accounting profession as general accountant of the SEC.
As General Accountant of the SEC, Artiza also serves as the SEC’s alternate representative to the Auditing and Assurance Standard Council and Financial Reporting Standards Council, as well as a member of the Philippine Interpretations Committee.
The awards were conferred during PICPA’s 77th Annual National Convention Awards Night held on Nov. 24 in Cebu City.
“We thank PICPA for promoting the role of the accounting profession in achieving transparency and accountability not just in the government service but also in the private practice. The SEC is proud to have its own pool of bright accountants who ensure compliance with both local and international standards among its supervised entities,” Aquino said.
The SEC published the first SEC Oversight Assurance Review (SOAR) Public Inspection Report as part of the SEC’s continuing commitment to high quality audits, which is important in boosting the confidence and trust of users of financial statements.
The report covers observations on audit quality during the first cycle of SOAR inspection from 2018 to 2021.
It likewise includes common inspection findings, common root causes of these findings and notable best practices of audit firms.
The SEC also earlier hosted for the first time the ASEAN Audit Regulators Group, which seeks to foster closer collaboration toward promoting audit quality across the region.
