USA: PCAOB adopts Auditing Standard No 16 - Communications with Audit Committees

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has adopted Auditing Standard No. 16, Communications with Audit Committees: see here. A copy of the standard, which includes background information, is available here (pdf). The purpose of the standard is to enhance the relevance, timeliness, and quality of the communications between the auditor and the audit committee. One way through which this is achieved is the requirement for the auditor to communicate certain matters regarding the audit and financial statements to the audit committee, including, for example, significant difficulties encountered in performing the audit and disagreements with management.