The Belgian Audit Oversight Board (BAOB) is the independent public supervisor on audit quality of the audit profession in Belgium. On 28 November 2025, the BAOB hosted its international conference on ‘Strengthening audit quality through culture, critical thinking and professional judgement’ in Brussels. The event brought together European and international supervisors, audit professionals, standard-setters and market stakeholders for a full day of exchange and reflection on the human drivers of audit quality.
The conference opened with Ms. Bénédicte Vessié, Chair of the BAOB, who welcomed participants and emphasised that the profession’s foundation lies in three mutually reinforcing pillars: organisational culture, critical thinking, and professional judgment. She called on organisations to foster environments where auditors feel free to ask questions, challenge assumptions and openly discuss errors. According to Ms. Vessié, technological developments, such as AI and data analytics, combined with rising expectations for transparency, make these human dimensions more essential than ever.
Following her remarks, Mr. Panos Prodromides, Chair of the Committee of European Auditing Oversight Bodies (CEAOB) and Director General of the Cyprus Public Audit Oversight Board (CyPAOB) delivered the introduction. He stressed that although regulations and standards set the framework, audit quality is ultimately human in nature, shaped by behaviour, mindset and the courage to challenge. He highlighted the importance of values-based leadership, consistent European cooperation and continuous learning.
Ms. Anneke Thordsen, Project Director in the Audit Market Supervision team at the Financial Reporting Council (UK) delivered the first keynote. She outlined how culture influences audit outcomes, from leadership tone to evaluation systems and psychological safety.
This was followed by a high-level panel discussion moderated by Mr. Prodromides, featuring Ms. Hilde Blomme (Deputy CEO of Accountancy Europe), Mr. John Boulton (Policy Director at ICAEW and CCAB Technical Advisor to Accountancy Europe), Ms. Marie-Noëlle Godeau (Audit & Assurance partner, Deloitte Belgium), Ms. Gilly Lord (PwC, Global Leader Policy and Regulation), Ms. Eef Naessens (Audit Partner & Managing Partner Assurance at EY Belgium) and Ms. Inge Saeys (Vice Chair of IBR-IRE and Partner at RSM Interaudit BV).
The panellists discussed how firms can promote critical thinking, balance time pressure with audit quality, and cultivate openness and constructive challenge at all levels of the organisation. The consensus was clear: culture is both a root cause of deficiencies and a pathway to sustainable improvement.
The afternoon began with a session led by Ms. Florence Peybernès, President of the Haute autorité de l’audit (H2A) in France. She explained the supervisory perspective on critical thinking and highlighted recurring inspection findings related to insufficient scepticism.
A second panel, moderated by Ms. Ann De Roeck, Secretary General of the BAOB, brought together supervisors Mr. José Miguel Almeida (Member of the Executive Board of the Portuguese Securities Market Commission, CMVM), Mr. Jacek Gdański (Chair of the Polish Agency for Audit Oversight, PANA), Mr. Ramana McConnon (Project Director in the Audit & Assurance Policy team at the Financial Reporting Council, UK) and Ms. Agathe Pignon (Deputy Head of the Public Oversight of the Audit Profession Department at CSSF Luxembourg and CEAOB Inspection subgroup Chair).
They discussed how judgment is shaped by technology, standards, monitoring systems and oversight expectations. They also highlighted the growing need for responsible integration of digital tools to preserve professional scepticism.
Later, drs. Sietze De Leeuw of the Dutch Authority for the Financial Markets (AFM) delivered a dedicated session on fraud awareness, emphasising behavioural cues, questioning mindset and structured scepticism during risk assessment and evidence gathering.
In his closing remarks, Mr. Jean-Paul Servais, Chair of IOSCO, Chair of the FSMA and Chair of the OECD Corporate Governance Committee, underlined that a critical mindset and strong ethical standards are indispensable for safeguarding market integrity. He stressed that constructive cooperation between regulators and the audit profession is vital to strengthening governance frameworks and enhancing international consistency.
The BAOB thanks all contributors for their insights and engagement. The conference reaffirmed a shared commitment to strengthening the human foundations of audit quality and ensuring that auditors, regulators and stakeholders continue to learn, adapt and collaborate in an evolving environment.
