IAASB Chairman Prof. Arnold Schilder addressed the Pre-General Assembly Conference of the Pan African Federation of Accountants (PAFA) in Douala, Cameroon, on May 8, 2014.

In his speech to conference delegates, Prof. Schilder announced that the number of jurisdictions using the clarified ISAs, or committed to using them in the near future, had surpassed one hundred with the addition of a number of jurisdictions from Africa.

Prof. Schilder highlighted the important societal role audit and assurance plays in the global economy, how the audit environment is changing, and the key role auditors play in contributing to high-quality reporting and setting a basis for trust. He also covered some of the IAASB’s responses, including its work on the topic of audit quality and enhancing auditor reporting, to today’s challenges, and recent standards of particular relevance to engagements for small- and medium-entities.