The National Chamber of Statutory Auditors (KIBR) celebrated its 10^th Anniversary in 2002. On this occasion a concert and gala dinner took place in the Polski Theatre on 28^th June 2002.

The self-regulatory organisation of auditors in Poland was established during the 1^st National Assembly of Statutory Auditors which was held on 20 June 1992. The debates lasted until small hours on 21 June 1992.
It does not mean that the audit of financial statements has not been conducted before in our country by authorised persons and that a legally regulated statute of these persons has not been aimed at. However establishing the self-regulatory organisation of auditors and its competent functioning has become possible only after having established a separate profession group capable of carrying out an audit profession in terms of a market economy.

The participants of celebrations of the 10^th Anniversary were: delegates to the Extraordinary National Assembly of Statutory Auditors which took place on 29 - 30 June 2002, KIBR bodies’ members and invited guests as Parliament and national administration representatives, other self-governing organisations’ representatives and delegates of fraternal organisations from France, Germany, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Great Britain, Italy, Latvia and Hungary.

Apart from Mr Piotr Rojek, the President of the National Council of Statutory Auditors, the following persons made a speech during the celebretion: Mr Marek Belka, Vice Prime Minister, Mr Jerzy Mackiewicz, Counsellor of the President of Poland, Mr Leslaw Paga, former Chairman of the Securities Commission.
KIBR received also many congratulation letters with wishes, among other from Mr President Aleksander Kwasniewski.

The official part was followed by the artistic one led by Boguslaw Kaczynski, famous Polish artists came out on the stage and the Zabrzanska Philharmonic gave a concert.

To emphasise the importance of the KIBR 10^th Anniversary before the celebrations in the Polski Theatre, the President of Poland, on the motion of the National Council of Statutory Auditors, conferred orders and distinctions on 46 persons for their merits in developing self-governing organisations of auditors.

The National Chamber of Statutory Auditors has issued an album on the occasion of its 10^th Anniversary.





In the celebration of the KIBR 10^th Anniversary, which was held a day before the Extraordinary National Assembly of Statutory Auditors - 28 June 2003, there were following participants: delegates for the Extraordinary National Assembly of Statutory Auditors, KIBR bodies’ members and invited guests: Parliament and public administration representatives, other self-governing organisations’ representatives and delegations of fraternal organisations from France, Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Great Britain, Italy, Latvia and Hungary.


Apart from Mr. Piotr Rojek, the President of the National Council of Statutory Auditors, the following persons made a speech during the celebretion: Mr. Marek Belka, Vice Prime Minister, Mr. Jerzy Mackiewicz, Counsellor of the President of Poland, Mr. Leslaw Paga, former Chairman of the Securities Commission.
KIBR received also many congratulation letters with wishes, among other from the President of Poland - Mr. Aleksander Kwasniewski, the President of the Polish Parliament - Mr. Marek Borowski, many foreign organisations’ representatives, among other from International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) and European Federation of Accountants (FEE).
The official part was followed by the artistic one led by Boguslaw Kaczynski, famous Polish artists came out on the stage and Zabrzanska Philharmonic gave a concert.





Ten years - is it a long time or a short time?

To ask such a difficult question is very easy but to answer it, using one of the suggested words, is not really possible because first of all we need to establish the basis for judging those 10 years.

Certainly 10 years is a long time if we are to judge on the basis of how much more white hair the men have acquired. But it is certainly a short time, (we might even say that time has stood still!) if we are to judge by the appearance of the charming ladies in this room!

Ten years of existence of a professional organisation bringing together such high-class specialists as auditors has brought us to mature age. The initial ’honeymoon-period’, which allowed us to explain away our mistakes and errors as the result of a lack of experience has now finished. After some controversy we have reached the conclusion that acquiring the name of chartered accountants was not only necessary but was very much in the interests of certified accountants.

This new approach has its problems however. In order to be noticed in the new world one needs new characteristics, some of which may not impress other people.
Finding one’s own way in this world is difficult, but there is no alternative, especially after 10 years of effective activity.

It is a long time if it is to be measured in terms of the honours which we have encountered thanks to the guests who are here tonight. I am sure that my thanks, which I will now say to our guests, comes from the hearts of all the auditors present here tonight.

So I would like to thank for coming here tonight:
1. Professor Marek Belka - Vice President, Minister of Finance,
2. The representative of the Office of President of Poland,
3. Mr Krzysztof Czeszejko-Sochacki - Chief of the Parliamentary Office of Poland,
4. Mr Jacek Bartkiewicz - Under-secretary of State at the Ministry of Finance who, on behalf of the Minister of Finance, supervises the activities of the National Chamber of Statutory Auditors,
5. Ms Irena Ożóg - Under-secretary of State at the Ministry of Finance,
6. Mr Jacek Socha - Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission,
7. Mr Andrzej Reich - representative of the General Inspectorat of Banking Supervision,
8. I have the pleasure of telling you that here with us this evening is Mr Lesław Paga who was the Chairman of the Securities Commission at the time when it organised the 1^st National Assembly of Statutory Auditors and who made an opening speech at that occasion

I would like to thank the representatives of other offices and institutions, as well as the representatives of other self-regulatory professional organisations.

I would like to convey special greetings and thanks for honouring our celebrations by coming here, to our fellow auditors, who are our guests because they have responsible positions in Parliament and state administration on a day-to-day basis.

So my thanks to:
1. Ms Barbara Marianowska and Mr Stanisław Stec - Members of Parliament,
2. Ms Barbara Misterska - Under-secretary of State at the Treasury Ministry
3. Ms Joanna Dadacz - Director of the Accounting Department at the Ministry of Finance. Auditors - members of academia, other notable practitioners and those who in the past had, and still have, positions which are important for our profession.
Welcome and thank you very much for coming.

The number of auditors holding important posts in the government and state administration confirms that 10 years is indeed a long time - long enough for the public, Prime Minister and Members of Government to appreciate the value of auditors as the creators of the law and administrators of the highest calibre.

The National Chamber of Statutory Auditors has a responsibility to represent the interests of the auditing profession and to do so while respecting the interests of the state and the law.

We therefore declare, for the new decade, our willingness and readiness to co-operate with the Parliament, the Prime Minister’s Office, the President’s Office and the state administration offices.

Ten years has also been sufficient time to enter into effective relations with auditors and their organisations from many countries. This can be confirmed by the presence here tonight of the representatives of comparable organisations from the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, Italy, Latvia and Slovakia.

Welcome, Dear Friends, and thank you for celebrating our anniversary with us.

Jerzy Sablik is here with us - the initiator of many activities which resulted in the creation of appropriate conditions for establishing the self-regulatory organisation of auditors. He was the creator of this self-regulatory organisation and the architect of its principles during the first two terms of office of the various bodies of the National Chamber of Statutory Auditors.

Dear Mr President - thank you for being here with us on the day of the anniversary. For you the times of creating the foundation of our self-regulatory organisation and chairing the National Council of Statutory Auditors for seven years must feel like only a short moment. In our opinion your achievements could easily have been the work of several decades!

We have not wasted these 10 years if we measure them in terms of everyday work and the professional efforts of:
- auditors;
- those entitled to audit financial statements;
- the bodies of the National Chamber of Statutory Auditors;
- the Examinations Committee,
- the Regional Branches of the National Chamber of Statutory Auditors,
- the Main Office of the Chamber and the secretariats of the regional branches which ensure the effectiveness of the self-regulatory organisation;
and in terms of the results of the Minister of Finance’s supervision over the Chamber.

We can be proud of having established the Code of Ethics for Auditors, auditing standards, the qualification requirements for candidates for auditors, the rules of disciplinary actions, well organised means of encouraging Regional Branch activities, the efficient administration of the decision-taking process as described in the Chamber’s statute and in the regulatory framework for the Chamber’s bodies. These documents were, and still are, a very good basis for a model of good audit practice and for the efficient functioning of the organisation.

The Chamber has two main responsibilities for its members. On the one hand it helps organise the training process, acquires appropriate literature, organises conferences, meetings, discussions, while on the other hand (through often not very gentle forms of persuasion!) it requires obligatory continuing professional education, it takes fees, it ensures that ethical rules and auditing standards are complied with and - in some cases - it takes severe disciplinary and administration action. The past ten years have certainly been longer for those who have experienced these actions.

The past of our self-regulatory organisation looks different if we look at it in terms of the efficiency of its activities. Already the third amended version of the law is in force, and each of the amendments required laborious and not always justified changes. The changes involved forms of audit practices, the terminology used in registers of auditors and those entitled to audit financial statements, data structure in those registers, auditors’ IDs and other related matters.

One of the means of maintaining the high level of the profession is to keep proper and regular contacts with appropriate organisations from abroad. Proper contacts mean that we can learn new things from them. Using those contacts is a kind of art. During today’s celebrations I would like to emphasise the importance of the time when following the political changes in Poland the new accounting, finances and auditing concepts were created. At that time professional organisations from the UK, France and Germany were the main knowledge providers. I would like to thank the representatives of these countries and assure them that Polish auditors appreciate all the help which they received during that difficult period.

According to a popular song "the balance must be zero". That this is obviously false is confirmed by our example. During the past ten years we have accumulated some good capital. Some of our assets, reflected by this capital, cannot be valued in terms of money. Examples of these invaluable elements are as follows:
- our colleagues practising as auditors at Master’s level, which results in a high quality of service - this is an unquestionable achievement,
- more than 500 professionals now have the title of auditor granted in compliance with the new qualification requirements,
- international contacts which have resulted in our active participation in the activities of professional federations in Europe and world-wide.

There is no doubt that Polish auditors are in the vanguard of the integration process and their further, as well as present, development is linked to and dependant on close co-operation with similar organisations in the European Union and world-wide.

I would like to declare, on behalf of the auditing profession, our willingness and readiness to integrate with the European Union.

Examples of our equity, which can be valued in terms of złote and grosze are first of all the premises: the Chamber bodies, Examinations Committee and many regional branches have their own offices.

The 10^th Anniversary is certainly a good occasion for some thoughtfulness about time passing. In the last ten years a lot of our colleagues have passed away. Let’s remember them. Those who are remembered most prominently have been pictured and immortalised in our publication: 10 years of the National Chamber of Statutory Auditors.

Ten years - is it a long time or a short time? I have been speaking about it for the last 10 minutes but I would ask each of you to find an answer for yourself. The President of the National Council of Statutory Auditors does not have to know the answers to all questions put to him!





The Album on: "Professional self-governing body of Statutory Auditors in Poland 1992 - 2002" was issued on the occasion of the KIBR 10th Anniversary.
This Album is a crowning achievement and recapitulation of the self-governing body of Statutory Auditors’ activities over 10 years. Since the moment of coming into existence of the self-governing body until now, it shows in a clear way the self-governing body history and its enormous development over these years.

In his foreword Mr. Piotr Rojek, KIBR President said: Ladies and Gentlemen Statutory Auditors ! Each, even such a very modest anniversary is an occasion to present a celebrator of a jubilee. This is the National Chamber of Statutory Auditors celebrating its 10th Anniversary in 2002. The National Council of Statutory Auditors decided to commemorate this Anniversary by issuing the Album of the KIBR 10th Anniversary. Coming into existence of the self-governing body of Statutory Auditors was preceded by a period of carrying out the audit profession in a non self-government structure by persons with qualifications equivalent to qualifications of Statutory Auditors. It was also reflected in our Album. Nevertheless the album is "only" an occasional publication, and not a history of coming into existence and developing the National Chamber of Statutory Auditors. Succeeding stages of constituting the profession of Statutory Auditors, a specific profession origin of several score years’ history were presented in it. The following issues were presented: formation of the professional self-governing body - the National Chamber of Statutory Auditors; its bodies, duties, achievements and regional branches. I am sure that this Album will bring much satisfaction not only to Statutory Auditors but also persons beyond our profession and our self-governing body will take an interest in reading it. Piotr Rojek President, National Council of Statutory Auditors

On the occasion of the KIBR 10^th Anniversary the President of Poland, on the motion of the National Council of Statutory Auditors, conferred orders and distinctions on 46 persons for their merits in developing the self-governing body of Statutory Auditors and accountants environment. There were statutory auditors and many years’ personnel of the self-governing body administration among awarded.