Saturday, January 26, 2008

Recognition on a Global Level for UHY

UHY INTERNATIONAL AMONG FIRST FULL MEMBERS OF FORUM OF FIRMS, A NEW GLOBAL ACCOUNTING BODY

UHY International has been named one of the first full members of the Forum of Firms after reporting it has implemented a globally coordinated quality assurance program, committed to the use of International Standards on Auditing (ISAs), and met other specific ethics requirements, the Forum announced today.

UHY llp is a founding member of UHY International, the global organization of accounting and consulting firms.

“We are proud to be among the first group of Forum members,” said Richard Kotlow, managing partner of UHY llp’s Albany office. “We have embraced the high quality assurance and ethics standards required of Forum members in order to serve the public interest and to help raise the standards of the international practice of auditing.”

John Wolfgang, UHY International chairman and UHY llp partner in New York City , added: “More specifically, a growing number of mid-tier companies now have interests in at least one country outside their home base – and even multi-national operations. UHY International’s membership in the Forum of Firm means our clients have access to the same quality of professional service virtually anywhere. We not only have the global reach but now have the attested compliance infrastructure to deliver a trans-national service that any client – or their stakeholders – can count on.”

The Forum of Firms is an association of international networks of accounting firms like UHY International. These firms perform audits of financial statements that are or may be used across national borders. The Forum’s goal is to promote consistent and high quality standards of financial reporting and auditing practices worldwide. It conducts its business through its executive arm, the Transnational Auditors Committee (TAC), which is also a committee of the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC). The members of the TAC are nominated by Forum members.

Marilyn Pendergast, a UHY llp partner in Albany and TAC member since 2004, said: “The Forum of Firms represents the global trend toward more consistent application of international standards for greater relevance to investors and other users of financial statements.

Pendergast added, “UHY llp’s internal quality-control procedures and policies have been in place since the UHY International network was founded in 1986, which means our membership of the Forum of Firms is a natural and seamless transition.”

In order to achieve full membership status, UHY International had to commit to meet the Forum’s membership obligations which require members to:

· Maintain appropriate quality control standards in accordance with International Standards on Quality Control issued by the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB) in addition to relevant national quality control standards and conduct, to the extent not prohibited by national regulation, regular globally coordinated internal quality assurance reviews;

· Have policies and methodologies for the conduct of transnational audits that are based, to the extent practicable, on ISAs issued by the IAASB; and

· Have policies and methodologies which conform to the IFAC Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants and national codes of ethics.

Like all the other full members announced today, UHY International originally joined the Forum as a provisional member. As of January 2008, of the 21 Forum members, 17 are full members and four are provisional members. The Forum’s remaining provisional members are working toward becoming full members in 2008.

As a full member of the Forum, UHY International is entitled to indicate Forum membership on our website, on letterhead, and in our publications.

UHY International is an association of independent accounting and consulting firms with offices in 190 major business centers in 66 countries. Over 6,300 staff generated an aggregate income of US$610 million in 2007, ranking UHY International among the top 25 international accounting and consultancy networks (by revenue). Each member of UHY International is a legally separate and independent firm.

Sixteen other international networks of accounting firms also achieved full member status, the first group of firms to do so since the Forum was formally established in 2002. A list of the Forum’s members is attached.

About UHY llp and UHY Advisors
UHY llp is a national licensed CPA firm and operates as the attest firm in an alternative practice structure with UHY Advisors Inc., the 13th largest professional services firm in the United States . Both firms are independent U.S. members of UHY International Limited, an international association of firms that operate in 60 countries worldwide.

For further information on UHY llp, please visit www.uhyllp.com

About UHY International

Established in 1986 and based in London , UK , UHY International is an association of independent accounting and consulting firms with offices in major business centres throughout the world. UHY has 188 offices in 64 countries with over 5,500 staff and generated an aggregate income of over US$530 million in 2006. Each member of UHY is a legally separate and independent firm in its own country.

For further information on UHY International please go to www.uhy.com.

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