Transparency Report 2024 - Marco Amitrano transcript

The organisations we audit are facing not just more uncertainty and more disruption, but huge amounts of change - in particular, rapid developments in technology, ongoing geopolitical fracturing, and increased urgency to address climate change risks.

This report outlines the measures we've implemented to provide our audit teams with the necessary expertise and technology, fostering a culture centred on our commitment to delivering consistently high audit quality.

Now, there have been high-profile challenges across the PwC global network over the past year, and this has further underscored the critical importance of having a culture that embeds ethical conduct and upholds robust governance structures.

In this context, building and maintaining trust remains paramount, and I take pride in the significant contributions our UK audit teams make in this regard.

We appreciate the insights shared by the FRC in their Annual Review of Audit Quality, and its recognition that we continue to prioritise achieving high quality audits. Our audit teams remain focused on meeting our quality objectives, which includes learning from the good practices identified as well as the feedback on where improvements can be made.

We're pleased to support the steps being taken by the Government and the FRC to progress the long-awaited audit reform and corporate governance legislative agenda. There are significant benefits to the UK retaining its leadership position in audit, reporting and corporate governance on the international stage.

The sector provides a key competitive advantage to the UK economy and we recognise the importance of maintaining it. As such, we’re proactively responding to the increasing demand for rigorous, independent assurance and insights into organisations’ significant non-financial information, including areas such as ESG and cybersecurity.

Responding to the challenges faced by the organisations we audit necessitates close collaboration among our teams, who benefit from sharing knowledge, expertise and experience to enhance both audit quality and the insights we deliver through our audit work.

Now, this collaboration is fundamental to delivering PwC’s purpose, to build trust in society and solve important problems.

In part, we're doing this through adopting technology more quickly and effectively, allowing us to focus on the needs of the organisations we audit, as well as the needs of their stakeholders and investors.

We also know that to fulfil our purpose, we must be recognised for our independence, integrity, unquestioned objectivity and overall trustworthiness. Transparency is crucial to this.