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12

COntinued

ethics

expect that any changes will be

necessary to audit firms’ systems and

methodologies or common practice.

The changes clarify that a subgroup

of those charged with governance of

an entity, such as an audit committee,

may assist the governing body in

meeting its responsibilities. In those

cases, if a registered auditor or

audit firm communicates with such

a subgroup, the Code requires

the registered auditor or firm to

determine whether communication

with all of those charged with

governance is also necessary so

that they are adequately informed.

These changes affects the definition

of “

those changed with governance

”,

paragraph 100.25 and 290.28.

Definition of Professional Activity

and Professional Services

The reclassification of the definition

of “

professional services

” as

professional activity

” as:

“An activity requiring accountancy

or related skills undertaken by a

registered auditor, including

accounting, auditing, review,

other assurance and related

services, taxation, management

consulting, and financial

management.

Consequential change to the

definition of “

professional services

as:

“Professional activities performed

for clients.”

Additional amendments to the

IRBA Code

Unlike the IESBA Code amendments

that are all included at the back of

the IESBA

Handbook of the Code of

Ethics for Professional Accountants

2013 Edition, the IRBA Secretariat

has incorporated all the proposed

amendments into the IRBA Code,

issued in June 2010, as the IRBA

Code (Revised 2014), with all

amendments reflected as grey

shading in the revised IRBA Code.

This has been done to facilitate

practical implementation of the IRBA

Code (Revised 2014) in its impact

on the inspections, investigations and

disciplinary functions of the IRBA.

The

Changes of Substance

from

the 2010 IRBA Code have been

included at the end of the revised

Code, as well as a table summarising

the paragraphs amended.

It is not anticipated that the

amendments create additional

requirements for auditors that require

an extended period of time for

implementation.

The amendments to the IESBA Code

(2013) have been issued with the

following effective dates, all with

early adoption permitted:

Breaches of the requirements of

the Code (effective on or after

1 April 2014);

Conflicts of interest (effective on

or after 1 July 2014);

Change to the definition of

“engagement team” (effective for

audits of financial statements for

periods ending on or after the

15 December 2014);

Change to the definition of “those

charged with governance”

(effective on or after 1 July 2014);

and

Reclassification of the definition

of “professional services” as

“professional activity”, and

consequential changes to the

definition of “professional

services” (effective on or after

1 July 2014).

Effective date in South Africa

In order to facilitate implementation

of the IRBA Code (Revised 2014),

regard being had to its impact on

the inspections, investigations and

disciplinary functions of the IRBA,

and as early adoption is permitted

by both the IESBA and the IRBA, the

Board approved the incorporation of

all the amendments into the revised

IRBA Code in February 2014, with

an effective date of

1 April 2014.

B-BBEE FAQs approved for issue

The CFAE approved a number of

Frequently Asked Questions

(FAQs)

with responses at its

meeting in March 2014 based on

queries most commonly received

by the Standards Department

and the B-BBEE Queries mailbox

( b-bbeequeries@irba.co.za )

to

assist B-BBEE approved registered

auditors (BARs) with implementation

of the SASAE 3502 and the IRBA

Code (Revised) when dealing with

ethical issues frequently encountered

by practitioners undertaking

B-BBEE assurance and advisory

engagements. The FAQs may be

accessed at the B-BBEE webpage on

the IRBA website:

www.irba.co.za .

Letter of Authority regarding

B-BBEE verification certificates

The CFAE also approved a

Communique and

Letter of

Authority regarding B-BBEE

Verification Certificates

that

BARs may provide for their clients,

indicating their authority for issuing

B-BBEE verification certificates, and

EME certificates issued by both BARs

and RAs, in terms of the existing

2007 Codes of Good Practice. The

letter also deals with the prohibition

on the use of the IRBA logo on

B-BBEE verification certificates issued.

These have been communicated and

may be downloaded from the IRBA

website.