KINGSTON, Jamaica – Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Dr Nigel Clarke, has charged the Public Accountancy Board (PAB) and the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Jamaica (ICAJ) to exercise greater vigilance in ensuring that high professional standards are maintained.

“Jamaica has the most developed capital markets in the Caribbean. We perform a crucial role in financial intermediation that is important for Jamaica’s development; and for those markets to flourish and develop, we will need to be able to rely on financial statements that are produced for companies that are public,” Dr Clarke said.

He delivered remarks during Thursday’s Government of Jamaica Audit Committees’ Conference 2023 at The Summit in Kingston.

Dr Clarke shared that with the deleveraging of government over the past several years, the financial sector is poised to grow.

“It’s going to be critically important to the health and viability of the financial sector that the audit profession and accounting profession maintain the highest standards in that interaction,” the finance minister said.

Dr Clarke advised the public and users of financial statements that they have agency and can bring matters to the attention of the Public Accountancy Board, which is duty-bound to investigate.

He further shared that audit committees play a critical role in maintaining trust and confidence and ensuring that risks are managed appropriately.

“Nowhere is that as important than in the Government, because the Government handles a large pot of resources between public bodies and [the] Central Government. We’re talking over $1 trillion of expenditure on an annual basis, not to mention the stock of assets that exist within these entities and, as a result, great care needs to be taken to ensure that these amounts can be properly accounted for,” Dr Clarke said, adding that public trust is the only currency in a democratic society.

Meanwhile, PWC Jamaica Territory Leader/Senior Partner, Bruce Scott, who gave the keynote address, underscored that many entities struggle with their risk operational structure.

“How do we organise ourselves on a day-to-day basis to ensure that we know the top risks affecting this ministry? How are we monitoring to make sure those controls are in place to mitigate those risks?” he asked.

Noting that risk management is about being proactive, Scott said audit committees must act as fire-safety experts rather than firefighters.

– JIS