Kingdom of Morocco : Accounting and Auditing
This report provides an assessment of Moroccan accounting and auditing standards and practices, and the institutional capacity necessary to ensure high-quality financial reporting. The law gives accounting standard-setting responsibility to the Nat...
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| Format: | Accounting and Auditing Assessment (ROSC) |
| Language: | English en_US |
| Published: |
Washington, DC
2013
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2002/07/5173646/report-observance-standards-codes-rosc-kingdom-morocco http://hdl.handle.net/10986/15100 |
| Summary: | This report provides an assessment of
Moroccan accounting and auditing standards and practices,
and the institutional capacity necessary to ensure
high-quality financial reporting. The law gives accounting
standard-setting responsibility to the National Accounting
Council (Conseil National de la Comptabilité). Since the
Council was established in 1989, Moroccan accounting
standards have improved greatly. However, further progress
is impeded by weaknesses in the accounting standard-setting
process and, more so, by implementation issues. The Bank
Al-Maghrib, Insurance and Social Welfare Directorate
(Direction des Assurances et de la Prévoyance Sociales), and
Securities Commission (Conseil Déontologique des Valeurs
Mobilières) are responsible for monitoring the quality of
financial information and the enforcement of accounting
standards for credit institutions, insurance companies, and
listed companies, respectively. While the Bank Al-Maghrib
has established an institutional framework for bank
monitoring that is more advanced than that of other sectors,
the overall design and implementation of the three
supervisory frameworks need improvement. The legislative
framework for the Moroccan accounting profession is
adequate. However, significant implementation issues exist,
such as the absence of a quality assurance system and the
lack of continuing professional education. Moroccan auditing
standards are largely inspired by the International
Standards on Auditing (IAS).However, the omission of certain
standards weakens the Moroccan auditing framework. The large
number of chartered accountants that do not even observe
Moroccan auditing standards exacerbates this issue. While
financial statements in Morocco generally include most of
the information necessary to analyze the financial status of
a company, certain lesser disclosure standards as compared
to the IAS reduce the usefulness and transparency of
Moroccan financial reports. Moreover, financial information
is not readily available, as the mechanisms to publish
statements are inefficient. The policy recommendations in
this report focus on strengthening the enforcement of
established accounting and auditing requirements, as well as
supporting the initiatives that Morocco has been
implementing over the last ten years. |
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