DFSA Signs Agreement With US Audit Regulator

by Lorys Charalambous, Tax-News.com, Cyprus

02 February 2012

The Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) has entered into a Statement of Protocol with the US Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB).

The Statement is the first bilateral agreement the DFSA has established with an audit regulator following the change to the Dubai International Financial Centre’s (DIFC) Regulatory law. The change allowed agreements like this to be signed for the first time.

The PCAOB is the US agency responsible for federal oversight of the audits of public companies. There are currently eight US regulated Firms in the DIFC, and the PCAOB already conducts audits jointly with the DFSA. This agreement facilitates the sharing of information between the two regulators.

Paul M Koster, Chief Executive of the DFSA, said: “This initiative extends the DFSA’s collegiate links with regulators in the US. The DFSA already has a Memorandum of Understanding with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and with the four federal banking supervisors, as well as other US regulators in the context of our multi-lateral arrangements.”

Koster also stated that: “The ability of audit regulators to co-operate and share information is critical in the current environment when the need to protect investors and the public interest has never been more important”.

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