,,Audit Committees: Prospects for Future Development” - a webinar was held within the frames of the EU Twinning Project

The EU Twinning Project Enhancing Accounting and Audit Quality in Georgia, with the support of SARAS and the National Bank of Georgia hosted a webinar titled “Audit Committees: Prospects for Further Development” on November 26, 2020.

The webinar was organized for members of the audit committees of the non-financial sector public interest entities, auditors carrying out PIE financial statements audits and the representatives of oversight/regulatory bodies. 

The webinar aimed to overview the recent trends in enforcement and regulatory actions taken by EU (including Greece) and Georgian oversight bodies with regard to the financial information of public interest entities, as well as to emphasize the important role of audit committees in the quality assurance of the audit of financial statements and promoting better protection of the users of financial information.  

Opening remarks were delivered by the President of the National Bank of Georgia, Mr Koba Gvenetadze. The webinar was led by speakers from the Hellenic Accounting and Auditing Standards Oversight Board (HAASOB), the Hellenic Capital Market Commission (HCMC), the National Bank of Georgia and SARAS. 

For more information on discussed topics, view the attached presentations below: 

Communication between Audit Committees and regulatory bodies (the best practice of EU) / Audit Committees functioning (the experience of Greece): 

Panagiotis Giannopoulos - deputy chair of HAASOB; 
Costas Cotsilinis - former deputy chair of HAASOB, PIER audit committee member;

An overview of the main findings of the financial statements of non-financial sector enterprises of Georgia and Greece:

Nikos Papadimos - Division of Listed Companies - Hellenic Capital Market Commission (HCMC); 
Ana Kvaratskhelia - Head of Corporate Finance Devision, Capital Market Supervision Department, the National Bank of Georgia; 
Davit Mchedlidze – Head of the Accounting and Reporting Supervision Department of SARAS; 

The approaches and enforcement mechanisms of the National Bank of Georgia to ensure transparency of financial statements / Cooperation between the National Bank of Georgia and SARAS: 

Salome Skhirtladze - Head of Capital Market Department, the National Bank of Georgia.

The webinar also highlighted the importance of effective cooperation between the oversight and regulatory bodies as well as the audit committee of public interest entities to achieve their common goals.