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النص الكامل
Results of a Survey of Investors Conducted by the PCAOB's Investor Advisory Group
Audit engagements performed by registered public accounting firms can cost tens of millions of dollars, and in some cases, the audit fee can approach $100 million. For example, Bank of America's 2010 audit fee was $96 million (according to Bank of America's 201 1 proxy statement). The only outcome of the audit process that is observable to investors is the auditor's report - and in most cases an unmodified, or clean, report is issued (hereafter referred to as UK standard audit report [SAR]). The SAR contains an introductory paragraph (which identifies the company audited, the years and financial statements audited, and the responsibilities of management and the auditors); a scope paragraph (which confirms that the audit was performed in accordance with standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board [PCAOB], and which briefly explains the nature and limitations of an audit and states that the auditor believes that he has a sufficient basis for expressing an opinion); and an opinion paragraph (which states that the auditor believes that the financial statements are "fairly presented" in accoidance with U.S. GAAP). Other than the opinion paragraph, the SAR is essentially devoid of informational content The SEC does not permit issuers to file qualified audit opinions, and consequently the overwhelming majority of audit reports issued are clean. This serves to further limit the informational content of the audit report.
The limited informational content of the SAR has been a concern to investors for many years. The Cohen Commission (1978) recommended that the audit report contain standardized alternative phrases or paragraphs, rather than a single standard report form. The Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Institute (2008) recommended that the SAR include more specific information about how the auditor reached his opinion, as well as identify key risk areas, significant changes in risk exposures, and amounts requiring judgment and involving uncertainty. Finally, the U.S. Treasury Advisory Committee on the Auditing Profession (2008) recommended changes to the SAR to make the audit report more descriptive, including clarifying the auditor's role and limitations in detecting fraud.
Notwithstanding these and other calls from blue-ribbon groups and investor advocates for modifying the SAR, its form and content have remained largely unchanged...