The Capital Market Authority's (CMA's) Board approved amendments to the Rules for Registering Auditors of Entities Subject to the Authority's Supervision, to be effective from the date of their publication.
The approved amendments aim to provide a legislative environment aligned with international best practices, and consistent with the relevant laws and regulations, in order to enhance the quality of audit engagements for entities subject to the CMA's supervision and improve the quality of information disclosed by accounting firms registered with the CMA.
Among the key approved amendments is the introduction of requirements for registered accounting firms to enhance the qualification of their professional staff. The key requirements include the presence of a sufficient number of audit managers who hold the Saudi Organization for Chartered and Professional Accountants (SOCPA) fellowship, or equivalent professional fellowships accepted by the CMA, commensurate with the nature, scale, and complexity of the registered accounting firm's business activities.
The approved amendments also require an appropriate quality management system for engagements to audit and review financial statements, as well as registered accounting firms' compliance with professional standards when reviewing interim financial statements and auditing annual financial statements of entities subject to the CMA's supervision, thereby enhancing the quality of audit work and increasing investor confidence in the market.
The approved amendments further require registered accounting firms to comply with detailed instructions when the CMA conducts inspections on them, by cooperating with the CMA and providing it with the required information, data, and documents. Registered accounting firms are also required to prepare a corrective action plan, where warranted by the outcome of the CMA's inspection, submit it to the CMA for approval, and comply with its implementation. In addition, registered accounting firms are required to share the CMA's final inspection results on a listed company's audit file with that company's audit committee, thereby enabling audit committees to perform their duties in monitoring the work of the auditor.
With respect to the information required in the Transparency Report, the approved amendments include disclosures related to the firm profile, governance, and leadership of the registered accounting firm and a description of the quality management system applied by the registered accounting firm, including the names of the persons assigned to oversee the quality management system, as well as disclosure of the outcome of the annual evaluation of that system. This enables interested parties to assess the quality of audit work performed by registered accounting firms.
The CMA had published, on 8 April 2026, the draft "Amendments to the Rules for Registering Auditors of Entities Subject to the Authority's Supervision" on the Unified Electronic Platform for Consulting the Public and Government Entities (Public Consultation Platform), affiliated with the Saudi Competitiveness and Business Center, and the CMA's website for public consultation for a period of (30) calendar days.
The amended Rules for Auditors of Entities Subject to the Authority's Supervision can be accessed through the following link:
The Rules for Auditors of Entities Subject to the Authority's Supervision
