The second Regional Audit conference of Dubai Financial Authority (DFSA) which is the independent financial services Regulator for the DIFC, Dubai, was held in Meydan, one of the iconic hotels in Dubai on 22nd and 23rd of November 2011.

The purpose of this conference was to raise awareness of current issues facing the audit profession. This year’s conference theme of “Professional Scepticism: ra...ising the bar” could highlight the need for an appropriate degree of professional scepticism as a crucial skill for auditors.

The speakers emphasised the fact that unless auditors are prepared to challenge management’s assertions they will not act as a deterrence to fraud nor be able to confirm, with confidence, that a company’s financial statements give a true and fair view. They opined that integrity of the auditing profession is constantly under scrutiny and we must ensure that we operate at the highest standards and “raise the bar” in our own practices.

Mr. Ahmed Al Maqtari, Mr. Mohandas Balakrishnan, Mr. Salman Pervaiz, Ms. Angela De Guia represented AGN in this conference.

In connection with this conference Mr. Ahmed Al Maqtari, Managing Director of Al MaqtariI Auditing, UAE participated in the interactive panel debate “Auditing in small business Environment- Challenges and Development" which was moderated by Mr. Stuart Dunlop, head of ACCA Middle East. Mr. Maqtari stressed the need for the medium sized audit firms which are mostly represented by UAE Nationals to come up and take a bigger role to audit business orgaisations in the country rather than relying on large audit firms grabbing the chunk of the practice in order to develop the profession in the country. He gave the example of legal practice in the country which is to be represented by the nationals of UAE.