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Proposed board of accountancy gets House nod
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Posted on Mar 02 2000
Following its failure to pass through the two previous Legislature, the House of Representatives yesterday approved an up-to-date version of legislation regulating the accountant profession in the CNMI and creating a board to enforce rules and regulations in the sector.
House Bill 12-13, sponsored by House Floor Leader Oscar M. Babauta, took off from at least three measures introduced over the last four years, including two offered by the same proponent.
According to a report prepared by the Committee on Judicial and Governmental Operations, the bill is necessary to protect the public interest by ensuring that accountants handling sensitive financial information are competent and qualified to carry out their tasks.
It also noted that the Commonwealth is the only U.S. jurisdiction which does not have laws regulating accounting practice.
“Without any controls to govern the practice of public accountancy, people with some experience in bookkeeping have in the past presented themselves as being competent in rendering professional opinions regarding the financial status or performance of commercial, non-commercial and government enterprises,” said the report.
Although the new version did not veer away from earlier proposals, it incorporated changes made on the latest draft as recommended by some sectors.
Called the Accountancy Act of 2000, the bill now heads to the Senate for action where it may draw stiff opposition. A similar measure passed in 1998 by the House failed to clear the upper chamber after Senate Floor Leader Pete P. Reyes opposed the proposal in fear it would lead to massive lay-off of accountants working in the CNMI.
Under HB 12-13, the government will establish the board to oversee licensing of public accountants through written examination to determine their competency and qualifications.
The system has been in place in the United States and its jurisdictions, except in the CNMI where it has no standards for the accounting profession.
The administration, led by Public Auditor Leo L. LaMotte and Dan Nielsen, the governor’s special assistant for education, has been pressing the Legislature to approve the legislation so that the government can regulate the profession.
