House endorses new public accountant law

The House of Representatives passed on Tuesday the public accountant bill into law, providing stronger legal ground for the profession and tighter regulations for foreign public accountants operating in Indonesia.

Regulations regarding the profession had up to then been specified only in a ministerial regulation.

“Given their role, it is only appropriate that the profession of public accountants is supported by a law-level regulation so as to create quality public accountants who can compete at the global level,” Finance Minister Agus Martowardojo said as he read out the government’s final view on the bill just before the House agreed to endorse it.

Agus said the law specified “clear” distribution of authority between the Finance Ministry, the Public Accountants Association and the Public Accountants Committee in regards to regulating and of public accountants’ activities in Indonesia.

He also said the law provided “tighter” regulations for foreign public accountants wanting to operate in the country, saying they could only do so if the governments of their respective countries of origin had inked a deal on the matter with the Indonesian government.

The new law also provides clearer sanctions for public accountants violating regulations, Antara reported.