Harney open to audit Bill change

The Tánaiste has signalled that the door has not closed on change in her plans to reform corporate governance in Ireland.

The Companies (Auditing and Accountancy) Bill is designed to implement the recommendations of the Review Group on Auditing but has drawn fire from accountancy bodies and group's representing the financial services industry.

Industry sources claim provisions in the Bill, which is currently at the Committee stage in the Seanad, will force IFSC-based companies to take their business outside the State at the very time that recent Finance Bill provisions have sought to encourage them.

"It is not in any of our interests to over-regulate business," said Ms Harney. "We have received a number of submissions from the financial services industry and others and we will consider these."

While accepting that regulation in the wake of accounting missteps at the likes of Elan, WorldCom and Enron is inevitable, the financial services industry is concerned about requirements to force companies to have audit committees regardless of size and to insist that directors sign compliance statements annually.

"If you run to far ahead, you run the risk of being seen as an unfriendly place to do business," Ms Aileen O'Donoghue, director of Financial Services Ireland.

Accountants, too, are worried about compliance statements and about the restricted voice they will have on the new supervisory body, the accounting oversight board.

As it stands, accountants have been allotted just two of the 13 seats on the board.

The Minister acknowledged that accountants' representative bodies had a argument when they said their seat allocation was too small.

"We would certainly not want to see them having a majority but we will look at the numbers," said Ms Harney.