Survey highlights investor preference for Audit Committee commentaries

According to a survey done by the National University of Singapore (NUS), investors support the inclusion of a commentary by Audit Committees (ACs) to shareholders, stating the views of the ACs on accounting issues highlighted as Key Audit Matters by auditors.

The survey was conducted on over 200 institutional and retail investors, by the NUS Business School, and was commissioned by the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority and the Institute of Singapore Chartered Accountants.

During the 2016 Singapore Accountancy Convention, Senior Minister of State for Law and Finance Indranee Rajah urged ACs to provide such commentaries. ACRA will also monitor the issuance of AC reports by companies, and to help ACs prepare for these changes, the Singapore Institute of Directors will be issuing a third edition of the Guidebook for Audit Committees in Singapore in early 2017.