Public policy landscape and engagement
Regulators are involved in all aspects and sectors of the economy, particularly those areas considered systemic. Those providing professional services associated with such sectors are well accustomed to engagement with the relevant regulators. Regulatory and public policy matters have thus become a permanent strategic consideration for BDO and increasingly also, for our clients. As the world responds to the public health, economic and financial impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and to policymakers’ responses, in the future we are likely to see the even greater involvement of governments and of independent regulators in all aspects of economic life. At a minimum, societal reaction to the pandemic and the macroeconomic and fiscal stimuli provided by governments will likely lead to enhanced regulatory intervention and participation
in markets and business life by governments and regulatory bodies. Activism around climate change, sustainability, inequality, the regulation of ‘big-tech’ and calls for transparency in all its forms are all likely to continue to profoundly influence the nature of the ever-changing regulatory environment. The tremendous pace of change brought about by new technologies since the turn of the century has dramatically affected the world in which we all live and work. The world of professional services has been no exception. Technology is already ensuring that the audit of the future will not look like the audit of today and will be wholly unrecognisable from the audit of yesterday. Furthermore, the delivery of taxation and a whole range of other advisory services is increasingly facilitated by technology. Regulators are moving from regulating national entities within a
sector, to regulating activities across jurisdictions and across clients as the necessary protocols, structures and technologies are put in place. These evelopments enable regulators to carry out their roles in ways that match the nature of the tech-enabled business environment of the modern era. Mirroring the globalisation of the business world, regulators now routinely share best practice, regulatory philosophies and results of inspections with each other. In addition, in the European Union, a new package of anti-money laundering (AML) measures has been proposed. If implemented, this would standardise AML compliance regulations across Europe and also introduce new statutory regulators to oversee the activities of the existing self-regulatory bodies that currently supervise professional services firms such as BDO.
TRANSPARENCY REPORT 2023
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