SEC wants top executives responsible for accounts

THE Securities and Exchange Commission is set to introduce new rules and regulations that will require the top executives of listed companies to be more responsible for their business’ accounting practices in order to meet international standards.

Prakid Punyashthiti, senior assistant secretary general of the SEC, said that the additional rules and regulations requiring chief executives, chief financial officers and accountants of listed companies to meet the higher accounting standard would take effect in the 2018 fiscal year.

He said that the top executives of listed companies would be required to at least pass a SEC training programme on accounting.

Further details of this endeavour will be announced later.

“This is aimed at providing a high-quality standard of information to investors,” said Prakid.

According to SEC statistics from 2012 to August this year, more than half of the companies that applied for initial public offerings had accounting that needed to be corrected to comply with the rules.

Prakid said that the SEC wanted to regulate “the upstream” of the information chain, meaning CEOs and CFOs should be responsible for keeping their companies’ accounting in line with the required standard including for financial reports, with auditors a downstream element.

“Even if the auditors do their best, the accounting will still not comply with the rules if the top executives are not aware of this matter,” he said.

In cooperation with the Federation of Accounting Profession, the SEC will arrange a training programme for those involved in listed company financial reports.