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Talks to allow US accountants to practise in the UK and vice versa have stalled following disputes including over how to judge the quality of American audit training.
英美两国关于允许会计师在对方国家执业的谈判陷入僵局,因为双方在如何评判美国审计培训质量等问题上存在争议。
Accounting profession leaders on both sides of the Atlantic had hoped a deal would make it easier for auditors at top firms to move freely when working on the accounts of large banks and dual-listed companies.
大西洋两岸的会计行业领袖都曾希望,这份协议能让顶级事务所的审计师在处理大型银行和两地上市公司的账目时更容易自由流动。
Supporters of the idea also believe it would attract talent to the City of London and open up new career opportunities for tens of thousands of people.
这一想法的支持者还认为,这将为伦敦金融城吸引人才,并为数以万计的人开辟新的职业机会。
Professional bodies in the US and Scotland agreed a pilot programme in 2018 that allowed limited recognition of each other’s accounting qualifications.
美国和苏格兰的专业机构于2018年达成了一项试点计划,允许有限度地承认对方的会计资格。
But an attempt to extend the deal to people qualified in England and Wales and to allow Americans to do audit work in the UK has foundered, according to people involved in the talks.
但据参与谈判的人士称,将该协议扩展至在英格兰和威尔士获得资格的人员、并允许美国人在英国从事审计工作的尝试已经失败。
The pilot, which had been twice extended while negotiations continued, was quietly allowed to lapse last year.
在谈判继续进行的同时,上述试点项目曾两度延期,但在去年悄无声息地到期失效。
“I would describe the process as suspended, not ended,” said Bruce Cartwright, chief executive of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland.
苏格兰特许会计师协会(Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland)首席执行官布鲁斯•卡特赖特(Bruce Cartwright)说:“我认为这一进程是暂停了,而不是终止了。”
The UK government has said mutual recognition agreements could boost audit skills in Britain and help domestic firms to win work overseas. It has proposed amending the Companies Act to allow professional bodies to count auditors’ foreign audit experience towards qualifications in the UK.
英国政府表示,相互承认协议可以提高英国的审计技能,并帮助国内公司赢得海外工作。它提议修改《公司法》,允许专业机构将审计师的外国审计经验计入英国的资格。
The Big Four accounting firms — Deloitte, EY, KPMG and PwC — have also expressed their support to regulators and professional bodies on both sides of the Atlantic, according to people familiar with the conversations.
据知情人士透露,四大会计师事务所——德勤(Deloitte)、安永(EY)、毕马威(KPMG)和普华永道(PwC)——也表示支持美英两国的监管机构和专业机构。
One Big Four executive in the UK said free movement of accountants was important for the smooth running of complex audits, particularly where clients have dual listings.
四大会计师事务所的一名英国高管表示,会计师的自由流动对于复杂审计工作的顺利进行非常重要,尤其是客户在两地上市的情况下。
Cartwright said: “We shouldn’t underestimate the complexity of these big financial institutions. If there is senior audit expertise available in the US that could be brought to London and vice versa, then that would be good for everybody.”
卡特赖特说:“我们不应该低估这些大型金融机构的复杂性。如果美国有高级审计专业知识可以带到伦敦,反之亦然,那对每个人都有好处。”
One sticking point in the talks has been the requirement for accountants in the UK to complete extra work before being able to add an audit qualification, which is needed to sign off on companies’ financial accounts.
谈判中的一个症结在于,它要求英国的会计师在能够添加审计资格之前完成额外的工作,这是签署公司财务账户所必需的。
Cartwright told the Financial Times that, while there was agreement that US audit experience could count towards the UK qualification, it had not been possible to design an oversight system to ensure American auditors had learned the required skills. “We couldn’t get to an agreement on what hurdles we would need,” he said.
卡特赖特告诉英国《金融时报》,虽然人们一致认为美国的审计经验可以计入英国的资格,但无法设计一个监督系统来确保美国审计师学会了所需的技能。他说:“我们无法就需要设置哪些门槛达成一致。”
The US has less specific experience requirements. The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), the US professional body, said: “As a general rule, we expect the same consideration for US CPAs that we offer to licensed accountants from other countries.”
美国对经验的要求较不具体。美国行业组织美国注册会计师协会(AICPA)表示:“一般来说,我们希望美国注册会计师得到与其他国家持牌会计师相同的考虑。”
A further hurdle, according to British professionals, has been the US unwillingness to include one of three major bodies that provide audit qualifications in the UK.
英国专业人士认为,另一个障碍是美国不愿将在英国提供审计资格的三大机构之一纳入其中。
The AICPA has been negotiating with two professional bodies — ICAS and the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) — but not the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, which has the second-largest number of members in the UK.
美国注册会计师协会一直在与两个专业机构——苏格兰特许会计师公会(ICAS)和英格兰及威尔士特许会计师协会(ICAEW)——进行谈判,但不包括英国会员数量第二多的特许公认会计师协会(ACCA)。
The ACCA said the Financial Reporting Council, which regulates UK auditors, had final say on mutual recognition agreements and “any arrangement agreed by the FRC will apply to all UK bodies”. The ICAEW declined to comment.
ACCA表示,监管英国审计师的财务报告委员会(FRC)对相互承认协议拥有最终决定权,而且“FRC同意的任何安排都将适用于所有英国机构”。ICAEW拒绝置评。
The FRC said it hoped all parties would “continue to work together to conclude this long-running matter”.
FRC表示,希望各方“继续合作,了结这桩延期许久的事件”。