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TRANSPARENCY REPORT | PUBLIC INTEREST COMMITTEE
Public Interest
Committee
Report
It is an exciting time to be a member of an audit
firm's Public Interest Committee. Audit is in the
spotlight and whilst the BEIS consultation seeks
to change behaviour through the medium of
new rules and reporting obligations, firms and
the regulator are also focusing on culture and
how this more elusive element can help ensure
audit continues to serve the public interest.
In the Autumn of 2020, Dame Teresa Graham and Vijay Thakrar
joined the firm as Independent Non-Executives and members of
the Public Interest Committee (PIC). The PIC, which also includes
Tom McMorrow, Director of Policy, Regulation, is committed to
robustly challenging and investigating what the firm is doing to
ensure it delivers high-quality audits.
Audit needs to continue to serve the public interest, a concept
which is evolving and now encompasses elements including
employees, suppliers and the environment (consistent with
Section 172 of the Companies Act). In some ways the pandemic
has helped as it has brought to the fore how important it has been
to work together, across the range of the public interest definition,
to ensure that a company understands whether it is a going
concern and how it will survive going forward. What is vital is that
Teresa Graham
Vijay Thakrar
Tom McMorrow
The Public Interest Committee
of RSM UK Audit LLP