The State's biggest accountancy firms are likely to vehemently oppose any attempt by the newly established Irish Auditing and Accounting Supervisory Authority (IAASA) to intervene in disciplinary hearings or to re-visit previous decisions.
In submissions to the Tanaiste Mary Harney's Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, firms such as PricewaterhouseCoopers, Ernst & Young and Arthur Andersen, emphasised that the new body should only have the power to ensure the monitoring, investigation and disciplinary activities of the accountancy bodies.
In its submission, Ernst & Young, warned that if the new body was to "reassess" cases already covered by the accountancy bodies it could "potentially undermine the past or future investigatory and disciplinary roles of the accountancy bodies and ultimately give rise to appeals to the IAASA".
It also suggested that the liaison between the body and the accountancy bodies should be sufficiently "close" to ensure that its intervention in disciplinary matters was "agreed at the outset of the case rather than retrospectively".
The submissions, released under the Freedom of Information Act, show strong opposition to the new regulatory structure. Ernst & Young stated: "Chartered accountants are currently regulated by the Institute with which they qualified. We see no reason for a change in this respect."
Arthur Andersen did not agree with empowering the IAASA to undertake reviews of auditing firms on an occasional basis. "The documentation retained by each body in connection with every monitoring visit should be sufficient for the IAASA to satisfy itself that that body's policies are being strictly adhered to."
It suggests each body should retain responsibility for handling complaints and conducting investigation and disciplinary activities.
PricewaterhouseCoopers "assumed" the IAASA would only use its right to intervene in "exceptional circumstances" where there were reasonable grounds to conclude the approved procedures had not operated satisfactorily.
The IAASA has been established on an interim basis pending legislation. Its establishment was one of the key recommendations of the Review Group on Auditing following the DIRT inquiry report.
