Central Bank Audit Practices

Central Bank Audit Practices describes common approaches, practices and trends relevant to the audit ofcentral  banks,  with  a  view  to  supporting  public  administration  reform  efforts  in  central  and  easternEuropean  countries.  The  study  provides  a  basis  for  further  discussion  between  decision-makers  andpractitioners on how the audit regime could be developed to ensure good governance of central banks.This  study  originates  from  a  discussion  on  today’s  important  audit  issues  which  was  arranged  by  theEuropean Court  of  Auditors  together  with  the  presidents  of  supreme  audit  institutions  (SAIs)  of  centraland eastern European countries and held in Luxembourg on 21-23 October 1996. Follow-up discussionsbetween  representatives  of  SAIs  and  central  banks  and  SIGMA  made  it  apparent  that  a  focusedcomparative study could be of high value to officials with responsibilities for the design of audit strategiesand policies, as well as to auditors.From the outset it was decided that the study should focus on auditing of central bank activities and not onbanking.  This  meant  that  aspects  of  the  banking  system,  such  as  the  regulatory  structure  of  financialinstitutions  or  supervision  of  the  financial  sector,  although  very  interesting  and  relevant,  have  beenexcluded from the scope of the study or are only briefly mentioned. The study is furthermore limited inthat it provides an overview of four European Union Member States (Germany, Ireland, the Netherlandsand Sweden). These countries do not represent the entire variation to be found in  the EU. The reader isalso  asked  to  keep  in  mind  that  current  practices  might  undergo  important  changes  as  a  result  of  theintroduction of the European Economic and Monetary Union.