INDEPENDENCE Independence remains the cornerstone of our profession. It is the fundamental principle driving trust in the reliability of audit, review and other assurance reports to third parties. BDO is dedicated to upholding the highest ethical standards and maintaining compliance with the independence standards of the International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants (IESBA) and, in countries where they are more stringent, those of national regulatory or standard setting organisations. BDO is a member of the Forum of Firms and subject to the membership obligations, which include promoting the consistent application of high-quality audit practices worldwide. BDO frms’ independence and objectivity on assurance clients are achieved and maintained through the Global Independence Programme (the Programme), a framework comprising eight elements (including, among others, Policies & Procedures, Technology, Training & Communications and Monitoring & Reporting). Each frm appoints a designated independence champion, an experienced professional who is responsible for implementing and monitoring compliance with the Programme. As part of our control environment designed to avoid threats to independence and potential conflicts of interest, BDO maintains a worldwide database of all our frms’ restricted entities, including listed companies and other public interest entities. This is available on our global intranet with the objective of preventing the performance of prohibited non-assurance services or investment in these entities. The worldwide database is continuously updated and the Independence Champions positively affrm both the accuracy of their frm’s listing, as well as their frm’s compliance with the Programme. Comprehensive due diligence is performed prior to accepting any new client or assurance engagement. BDO frms perform specifc procedures to identify any potential conflicts of interest and threats to independence. These procedures include the use of a global technology solution that facilitates international conflict and independence requests across BDO.
GLOBAL REVIEW | 2018
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