On 30 October 2023, the representatives of the Accounts Chamber of the Russian Federation and the Audit Board of the Republic of Indonesia discussed the implementation of IPSAS 41 “Financial Instruments” and the role of Supreme Audit Institutions in the fight against corruption.

In his welcoming remarks, the moderator of the seminar Mr. Timur Makhmutov, Director of the Department for International and Regional Cooperation of the Accounts Chamber of the Russian Federation, underlined the relevance of the meeting in view of the active work of both SAIs on international organisations auditing and stressed their key role in preventing the misuse of public funds. Ms. Kusuma Ayu Rusnasanti, Deputy Director of Public Relation and International Cooperation of the Audit Board of the Republic of Indonesia, stressed the importance of experience-sharing between SAIs for fostering the development of best practices.

Speech by Ms. Rika Susanthi, Deputy Director I of the Global Partnership Center, and Mr. Uthar Muthadir, Senior Auditor of the Directorate Audit I of the Audit Board of the Republic of Indonesia, opened the first session of the seminar dedicated to the implementation of IPSAS 41. Ms. Rika Susanthi elaborated on the impact of IPSAS 41 on the International Maritime Organisation’s audit and accounting processes. SAI Indonesia will be the external auditor of the World Intellectual Property Organisation from 2024 to 2029. Mr. Utar Mutadir highlighted the role of IPSAS 41 in this context and relevant changes in the WIPO’s financial statements.

Mr. Denis Strizheusov, Deputy Director of the Financial Audit Department of the Accounts Chamber of the Russian Federation, outlined the main challenges in auditing UN institutions associated with IPSAS 41. They include the complexity of the standards themselves, as well as the issues of relevance and availability of data sources. The speaker emphasised the need for external auditors to take an active role in developing approaches to IPSAS 41 implementation and to provide illustrative examples to organisations for proper implementation of the standards. The importance of cooperation among UN External Auditors in harmonising approaches to the implementation of IPSAS 41 was also highlighted. This will help to ensure the comparability of the financial statements of UN institutions.

The second session of the seminar was devoted to pending issues of the fight against corruption. Ms. Svetlana Orlova, Auditor of the Accounts Chamber, noted that anti-corruption legislation has become an integral part of the civilised world order. The speaker shared the results of the Accounts Chamber's anti-corruption activities. For example, SAI Russia uses such cutting-edge technologies as neural networks and artificial intelligence in its audit activities: more than 100 anti-corruption plans of federal authorities have been analysed using these tools. The use of artificial intelligence allowed to reduce labour costs by 15-20 times and minimise the impact of the human factor.

Svetlana Orlova also drew attention to the assessment of the openness of public authorities, which is carried out annually by the Accounts Chamber. In addition, SAI Russia is actively developing the methodology of anti-corruption procedures: in October 2023, the Methodological Recommendations for Identifying and Assessing Corruption Risks were approved.

Mr. Hery Subowo, Director General of Investigative Audit of the Audit Board of the Republic of Indonesia, outlined the anti-corruption activities of the Audit Board of the Republic of Indonesia. SAI Indonesia is involved not only in detecting but also in investigating cases of abuse and fraud. SAI also provides expertise in corruption trials. Mr. Subowo noted that since the detection of corruption cases often requires the analysis of digital evidence, SAI Indonesia has established the Digital Forensic Laboratory.

Mr. Igor Sklyarov, Head of the Inspection of the Legal Department of the Accounts Chamber, took part in the discussion and drew attention to the cooperation between the Accounts Chamber and the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Russian Federation and the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation in the fight against corruption. Mr. Nikolay Kruchek, Head of the Division of the Department of Human Capital Development, elaborated on the methods of preventing corruption among the employees of the Accounts Chamber and the control over the prevention of conflicts of interest through the introduction of public audit standards.

All the participants of the seminar stressed the importance of the meeting and expressed their hope to continue sharing best practices on an annual basis.