Effectiveness of new safeguards and prohibitions to protect audit independencean empirical research with auditors

  1. Begoña García-Hernández 1
  2. Antonio Duréndez 1
  3. Alfonso A. Rojo-Ramírez 2
  1. 1 Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena
    info

    Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena

    Cartagena, España

    ROR https://ror.org/02k5kx966

  2. 2 Universidad de Almería
    info

    Universidad de Almería

    Almería, España

    ROR https://ror.org/003d3xx08

Revista:
Revista española de financiación y contabilidad

ISSN: 0210-2412

Año de publicación: 2023

Volumen: 52

Número: 3

Páginas: 317-347

Tipo: Artículo

DOI: 10.1080/02102412.2022.2082225 DIALNET GOOGLE SCHOLAR

Otras publicaciones en: Revista española de financiación y contabilidad

Resumen

The EU has faced the moral hazard problem of auditors by protecting their independence in two ways, with the formulation of a general principle of independence, and with the implementation of a preventive and sanctioning framework of safeguards and incompatibilities. The latest EU Directive, which reformed the auditing profession, adopted and extended such measures. This research fills a gap in the literature by showing the perception auditors have of the benefits of this new regulatory framework to promote auditor independence. With this purpose, we developed a qualitative study using a questionnaire addressed to a sample of 192 auditors. Following structural equation modelling methodology (SEM), we obtained results showing that the new and more restrictive European regulation of personal and service incompatibilities has a positive effect and improves the perceived independence of auditors.

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