The role of audit committees is becoming more demanding, says Ernst & Young Middle East Chairman

Ernst & Young's Directors' Forum is a series of conferences that uniquely bring together company leaders in a discussion about the current and most important business issues that they face, mainly those related to the evolving role of the audit committee and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). The Forum is led by Dr. Ruth Bender, a Senior Lecturer at Cranfield School of Management, and Eric Tarleton, Partner and member of Ernst & Young's Global IFRS Committee.

Ahmed Al Aiban, Chairman, Ernst & Young Middle East said: "As laws and regulations continue to advance, the role of business leaders certainly gets no less complex and becomes more time consuming. The number of issues facing today's directors - particularly those serving on audit committees - has become more technically demanding with the move to IFRS. We have designed this Forum to bring these issues to the forefront, to explore the growing core responsibilities of directors and to foster discussion and interaction between speakers and attendees."

Launched December 4th in Kuwait, the Forum includes a series of conferences in Bahrain (December 5th ), Abu Dhabi (December 6th ) and Dubai (December 7th ), before it concludes in Muscat on December 9th.

Each conference includes a session examining the role of audit committees - led by Dr. Ruth Bender - followed by a session titled 'IFRS: What Next?' - presented by Ernst & Young's Eric Tarleton.

"These sessions seek to initiate dynamic and stimulating dialogues, with directors exchanging ideas and experiences in a round-table setting. Participants particularly appreciate this interactive, informal and practical style." Al Aiban added.

An expert consultant and lecturer, Dr. Ruth Bender specializes in a variety of subjects, including corporate governance, shareholder value and financial strategy. She is a facilitator to the Audit Committee Chair Forum, which is run jointly with Ernst & Young and the Confederation for British Industry and is an authority on the role of audit committees.

Eric Tarleton is an audit Partner at Ernst & Young's Bahrain office, specializing in banks audits. He is a member of Ernst & Young's International IFRS committee and on their Financial Instrument's Working Group (IAS 39). Eric also runs the Middle East IFRS desk where all regional important IFRS queries are addressed.