News Centre

The Accounting and Financial Reporting Council (AFRC) today publishes an article titled Setting and Reinforcing Tone at the Top to Achieve Quality Audits, emphasising the importance of an audit firm’s leadership in setting and reinforcing a tone at the top that fosters a culture of ethical behaviour, integrity, and commitment to audit quality.

The article explains the importance of tone at the top in establishing and sustaining an ethical, compliance-oriented, and quality-focused culture to minimise illegal or unethical activities in an audit firm, thereby promoting audit quality and fostering talent development. A consistent tone between an audit firm’s leadership and its engagement team will ensure audit staff follow the tone and reflect it in their audit work.

Ms Janey Lai, CEO of the AFRC, said, “To safeguard audit quality and the interests of the wider public, audit firms’ leadership should promote an ethical and compliance culture that emphasises audit quality. As the regulator of the accounting profession, the AFRC will hold audit firms’ leadership, particularly Chairpersons and Managing Partners, accountable for setting and effectively communicating the tone at the top. By persistently promoting the values and behaviours that are essential for delivering high-quality financial reporting and audits, the credibility, integrity, and trustworthiness of Hong Kong’s capital market are safeguarded.”

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