Dr. Josep Maria Bové
José María Bové, full academician of the Royal European Academy of Doctors-Barcelona 1914 (RAED), honorary consul of Austria for Catalonia and Aragon and president of Bové Montero y Asociados, one of the main Spanish firms in the field of auditing and the consultancy, considers in the article “Una reflexión sobre la auditoría conjunta” (A reflection on the joint audit), published by the Spanish economic newspaper “Cinco Días” in its edition of last September 23, that the socalled joint audit is a practice that is used in Spain in a residual way, although its use will be generalized due to the recommendations of the European institutions.
“The European regulation on the specific requirements for the legal audit of public interest entities argues that the appointment of more than one legal auditor or audit firm favors the exercise of professional skepticism and contributes to increasing the quality of the audit. And concludes that public interest entities should be encouraged and encouraged to appoint more than one legal auditor or audit firm to carry out their legal audit”, recalls the academician. A regulation that emerged in 2014 as a reaction to the financial scandals that hit the great world economies at that time.
Bové points to the topic that four eyes see more than two to simplify their reflection. “The fact that an audit is carried out with another professional of trust and proven competence allows the sharing of strengths and risks, experiences and complementary points of view are crossed, the debate and the critical sense are enriched and, finally, the skepticism. There is more: coaudit minimizes the threat of familiarity (or what is the same, loss of independence), while reinforcing the position of both professionals in the event of possible attacks from the steering committee and the audit committee”, he adds.
Bové already stressed the need to develop this joint audit in Spain during the 5th International Congress of the RAED, which took place in Budapest between September 22 and 25 under the title “The Europe of citizens versus the Europe of States. The challenges of the 21st century for science”. He then pointed out that British laws can cause large companies to pass joint audits throughout Europe. Thus, greater protection of the auditor is sought from possible links with the property of the audited companies.
