Dear Stakeholder,

We write to share a brief update on our latest initiative to support global standard setting and to better leverage the coordination opportunities between our two boards.

With global regulatory fragmentation risk on the rise, and greater international collaboration on the forthcoming G20 agenda, it is a pleasure to advise that last month we convened a meeting in Paris with national audit and ethics standard-setting organizations representing 17 jurisdictions.

We spontaneously dubbed this four-way dialogue (IAASB + IESBA + national audit & assurance + ethics standards setters) a “quadrilogue”. The name has stuck—along with the goodwill the event created!

The discussions marked the beginning of an exploratory and evolutionary process for the IAASB and IESBA to work with national standard setters, and for national standard setters to work with each other, to consider new ideas in pursuit of mutually shared objectives.

The meeting advanced already-significant IAASB and IESBA coordination efforts, which acknowledge the importance of audit and ethics standards to audit quality. The meeting facilitated further collaboration between a number of national audit & assurance standard setters and the IAASB, as well as identifying ways national standard setters can work more effectively together in the interests of international standard setting.

Some important themes emerged from the “quadrilogue”:

• The value of continued IAASB and IESBA coordination, the significant advances made to-date, and how it serves as a catalyst for national coordination;
• The importance of early coordination between our two boards, and increased stakeholder communications about it;
• Recognition that it is important to identify the areas where four-way engagement makes most sense; and
• Quality management within accountancy firms, implications of technology developments, stakeholder engagement, and enhanced implementations activities are possible topics for further exploration.

Yours sincerely,

Arnold Schilder and Stavros Thomadakis
IAASB and IESBA Chairs

Chairs of the International Auditing & Assurance Standards Board (IAASB) and the International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants (IESBA) respond to the UK's Brydon review. In addition to responding to the Brydon review's proposals, this letter highlights how both Boards act in the public interest to support public confidence in audits of financial statements and other assurance engagements, and also serve to reinforce the important ethical responsibilities of professional accountants in business (PAIBs) in the external reporting ecosystem.

Mr. Thomas R. Seidenstein will become the new chair of the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB) for a three-year term commencing July 1, 2019. He succeeds Prof. Arnold Schilder, who has led the IAASB since 2009.

"Tom will skillfully navigate the IAASB through a period of change and transformation with his flexible and pragmatic approaches," said Ryozo Himino, Interim Nominating Committee Chair. "Being a collaborative leader and a natural consensus builder, he will continue to realize the potential of both the IAASB and its support in, and for, the global community.”

“I am honored to be selected as the IAASB’s next chair,” Mr. Seidenstein said. “Adopted and implemented worldwide, international standards on audit and assurance are a critical support to global financial market stability. I look forward to working with IAASB members, technical staff, and the leadership of other standard-setting boards to further strengthen cross-sectoral collaboration on key public interest issues and address emerging stakeholder needs. Together, we will advocate tirelessly for relevant standards that facilitate high-quality audit and assurance engagements.”

Mr. Seidenstein’s career spans both international standard setting and the private sector. He is currently senior vice president for Strategy, Innovation and Capital Management at Fannie Mae, a leading source of US housing market liquidity. He previously served as the chief operating officer at the International Financial Reporting Standards Foundation, where he led the organization’s governance review and reform process and worked closely with regulators to support global adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards. He holds a Master in Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School and is an undergraduate of the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University.

Mr. Seidenstein’s appointment was recommended by the Interim Nominating Committee after an extensive international search. His appointment was endorsed by the IFAC Board and approved by the Public Interest Oversight Board, which oversees the IAASB.

About the IAASB
The IAASB develops auditing and assurance standards and guidance for use by all professional accountants under a shared standard-setting process involving the Public Interest Oversight Board, which oversees the activities of the IAASB, and the IAASB Consultative Advisory Group, which provides public interest input into the development of the standards and guidance. The structures and processes that support the operations of the IAASB are facilitated by the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC). For copyright, trademark, and permissions information, please go to permissions or contact permissions@ifac.org.

About the Interim Nominating Committee
Chaired by Mr. Ryozo Himino, Vice Minister for International Affairs, Japan Financial Services Agency, the Interim Nominating Committee was formed by the Monitoring Group to conduct an open and transparent search for the next IAASB Chair. Having successfully fulfilled its mandate, the committee will now dissolve.