April 30, 2007, letter commenting on the IESBA's December 2006 Exposure Draft: Section 290 of the Code of Ethics: Independence--Audit and Review Engagements, and Section 291 of the Code of Ethics: Independence--Other Assurance Engagements

This letter provides the U.S. Government Accountability Office's (GAO) comments on the International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants' (IESBA) proposed revisions to the independence provisions of its Code of Ethics. GAO supports the efforts of the IESBA to enhance the independence of professional accountants who perform assurance engagements. GAO views auditor independence as the crucial element for gaining and maintaining public trust. Auditors and audit organizations must maintain independence so that their opinions, findings, conclusions, judgments, and recommendations will be impartial and viewed as impartial by objective third parties with knowledge of the relevant information.