EUROSAI. Magazine N21 - 2015

EUROPEAN ORGANISATION OF SUPREME AUDIT INSTITUTIONS ISSAI SPOTLIGHT 48 www.eurosai.org · N.º 21 - 2015 • • Competence – to maintain knowledge and skills appropriate for the role, and to act consistently with applicable standards, • • Professional behaviour – to comply with applicable laws, regulations and conventions, and to avoid any activities that may discredit the SAI, • • Confidentiality – to appropriately protect information. B. The second fundamental change is that ISSAI 30 is now intended to be applicable to SAIs and all their staff. This includes the Head of the SAI, its members in the case of collegial models, any management positions and all individuals directly employed by, or contracted to conduct business on behalf of, a SAI. All these individuals should consider the stated values in their professional activity and, as adequate, in their private life. C. The revised ISSAI 30 follows a new structure, including a Preamble , a section with an Overall approach to ethical behaviour, a section dedicated to Overall responsibilities of SAIs and five sections to explore each fundamental value individually. The proposal clearly differentiates requirements and guidance. All requirements should be complied with, either by SAIs or their staff. This is intended to clarify the initiatives, controls and behaviours that are prerequisites to ensure trust and credibility. Separately, application guidance is provided to assist both SAIs and staff in meeting the requirements, as had been requested by respondents to the survey. The requirements and application guidance can be clearly differentiated in the revised ISSAI 30 through the visual presentation and through the language used. D. Following the survey and the TFA&E suggestions, a section dedicated to the Overall responsibilities of SAIs comes as a novelty in the revised ISSAI. The rationale behind is that ethical behaviour of individuals depends not only on their will, but also on the environment they work in. So, notwithstanding the individual commitment of staff to act according to ethical values and principles, the SAI has a specific responsibility to foster and protect ethics in every aspect of the organisation and its activities. Among other responsibilities, SAIs are expected to lead by example, control vulnerabilities and put in place a coherent set of ethics strategies, policies and measures. Through this section a benchmark is drafted for SAIs to follow and improve further. 5. Present Status and Due Process In October 2015, the Steering Committee of the Professional Standards Committee approved of the exposure draft of the revised ISSAI 30. The exposure draft has been placed on the ISSAI website ( www.issai.org ) and is open for commenting until 1 February 2016. All INTOSAI Members are invited to send comments on the document to ISSAI30.Review@nik.gov.pl . After going through the Due Process for INTOSAI Professional Standards , and amended as needed following comments, the revised ISSAI 30 will be submitted for approval to the INTOSAI Congress in December 2016. Any questions related to the project can be addressed at: ISSAI30.Review@nik.gov.pl The proposal clearly differentiates requirements and guidance. All requirements should be complied with, either by SAIs or their staff The requirements and application guidance can be clearly differentiated in the revised ISSAI 30 through the visual presentation and through the language used