Kenya to adopt global auditing standards to attract investors

Kenya plans to adopt international financial auditing standards in order to boost the country's attractiveness to foreign investors, accountancy regulator said on Thursday.

Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Kenya (ICPAK) CEO Patrick Ngumi told a finance forum in Nairobi that all publicly listed companies will be required to implement the standards after January 2017.

However, those companies whose financial year ends before the end of 2016 are encouraged to implement the standards in order to improve investor confidence in the financial markets, Ngumi said.

Investors tend to put their funds in countries that have open and transparent financial reporting standards that are legally enforceable," he said.

Once the standards are in place, the auditors will be required to disclose key auditing matters that affect a company's financial sustainability.

The CEO said currently auditors of public companies have no avenue to report any financial discrepancies they encountered in their work.

"This is because auditors sign a confidentiality agreement with clients before they commence any audit work," he said.

ICPAK said the new standards will compel accountants and auditors to be more proactive in reducing financial reporting fraud.

"It will be an offense if auditors conceal anything illegal or information that turns out to be detrimental to the investing public," Ngumi said. Endit