In 2019, the Executive Board approved procedures for handling alleged violations of APSCA’s Code & Standards of Professional Conduct by individual Member Auditors and formed a Disciplinary Board and an Appeals Board to consider these allegations. It also approved procedures for the President and CEO to separately handle allegations of integrity violations by an individual in connection with certification exams and misuse of APSCA Member Auditor Number.
Further, the Executive Board approved a Complaint Handling Protocol, specifying minimum requirements for Member Firms to follow when investigating misconduct that could constitute a violation of the APSCA Code & Standards. The Disciplinary Board Auditors held two meetings in 2019. The Board is chaired by the Senior Advisor, Ethics & Integrity. The other members comprise two representatives of Member Firms, one representative from the Stakeholder Board and an independent member with an ethics and labor background. The Disciplinary Board for Auditors will meet again in February.
January 2020 saw the first meeting of the Disciplinary Board for Member Firms. The Board heard 3 cases and those cases are going through the adjudication process. Further information will be provided once this has been completed.
A summary of issues reported, investigation outcomes as well as the actions and sanctions imposed since 2017 is provided below.