HONG KONG auditors will soon have to abide by stricter rules and a more extensive set of standards to judge whether a company's financial statements give a 'fair and true view'.
After three years preparing the new standards, the Hong Kong Society of Accountants (HKSA) plans to issue a total of 19 new mandatory standards for auditors in the next few weeks.
The new standards are based on recommendations from the International Federation of Accountants, which issued wider-ranging rules for auditors in 1994.
The HKSA at present has only two mandatory standards and a host of guidelines.
The first mandatory standard outlines audit approach.
One page long, it does little more than stress how audits must be impartial and should assess the accounting systems.