DO YOU KNOW HOW YOU CAN BENEFIT FROM THE MRA?

The ASEAN AWARENESS FOR ACCOUNTANTS series or the 3A series of the Board of Accountancy is
an ongoing awareness campaign on the ASEAN Mutual Recognition Arrangement (MRA) on Accountancy
Services. The ASEAN MRA was signed last November 2014 by all ASEAN member states.
The MRA is now being implemented and will affect our entire accountancy profession, BoA Chairman Joel
Tan-Torres said.
We have been attending meetings of the ASEAN accountancy regulators and a road map has already been
formulated that will soon result in the enhanced mobility of ASEAN accountants within the region, added
Chairman Tan-Torres.
In order that all stakeholders in the accountancy profession are made aware of these important developments
in the MRA, the BoA has been posting information materials on the MRA in its Face Book (FB) and website
and discussing this matter on various fora and events attended by the BoA Chairman and members . Flyers
and brochures on the MRA will be published and disseminated. The Continuing Professional Development
seminars and modules will offer topics on the MRA.
We need to be prepared and ready to meet the opportunities and benefit that the MRA will bring. At the same
time, we should all be ready to face the competition from the other ASEAN countries that will result in
challenges to our accountants, Chairman Tan-Torres said.
All accountants are encouraged to post questions and topics that they would want to be discussed in this 3A
series.
The suggested topics can be also be emailed to boa.secretariat@gmail.
For information on the MRA and 3A series , you can log in at the BoA website at http://boa.com.ph/aseanmutual-recognition-arrangement.
ASEAN REGULATORS DISCUSS MRA IMPLEMENTATION
Representatives from the ten ASEAN countries gathered together from October 2 to 2, 2015 in Suntec
Convention Center in Singapore to discuss the implementation details of the Mutual Recognition Arrangement
(MRA) for Accountancy Services. The MRA was signed last November 2014 and provides for the mobility of
the accountants of the ASEAN region.
The Philippines was represented in the Accountancy Workshop by BoA Chairman Joel Tan-Torres and Estelita
Aguirre and Corazon Pangcog as the representatives of PICPA.
The Accountancy Workshop was organized ASEAN and Aus Aid. The facilitators fo the workshop were Patrick
Corrigan, Gertt Karreman, and Mahalah Groves of ACCA.
BoA ATTENDS FIRST MEETING OF ASEAN COORDINATING COMMITTEE
BoA Chairman Joel Tan-Torres and Hon. Gerard Sanvictores attended the first meeting of the ASEAN
Chartered Professional Accountant Coordinating Committee (ACPACC) together with about 30 representatives
from the nine other ASEAN countries. This was held in the Suntec Convention Center in Singapore on
September 30, 2015.
Matters discussed in the meeting are the formation of the monitoring committees for the ASEAN MRA. the
discussion of the list of regulate services across the region, the turnover of the Handbook on Core
Competencies and Domestic Regulations in the Accountancy Services of the ASEAN countries.

During the meeting, we presented what we have been doing in implementing the Mutual Recognition
Arrangement (MRA) in the Philippines. We highlighted on the awareness and information campaigns that we
have done to make the accountancy profession know the details and benefits of the MRA, said Chairman TanTorres.
The representatives of the ten ASEAN countries agreed on a number of implementation activities to undertake
and to report this to the ACPACC in the January 2016 meeting to be held in Thailand.
DO YOU KNOW YOUR ASEAN MRA ON ACCOUNTANCY SERVICES?
The details of the implementation steps and phases for the ASEAN Mutual Arrangement on Accountancy
Services (MRA) are being discussed in the ongoing meeting of the ASEAN Accountancy Coordinating
Committee and the Australian Aid Accountancy Workshop in Singapore from September 30 to October 3, 2015.
Attending these events from the Philippines are BoA Chairman Joel Tan-Torres, Hon. Gerard Sanvictores, AFA
President Estelita Aguirre and Corazon Pangcog of PICPA and BoA project manager.
All of our accountants should be aware of what the MRA is all about. In this way, we can properly prepare to
take advantage of the opportunities and benefits, and minimize the risks and threats, said Chairman TanTorres.
The BoA, PICPA and all the accountancy sectoral organizations should pursue activities to provide information
to accountants on the MRA. On the part of BoA, we have the ASEAN AWARENESS FOR ACCOUNTANTS
series or the 3A series, which provides useful information on the MRA. The PICPA and the other accountancy
organizations can conduct CPD seminars and fora on the MRA for their members, said Chairman Tan-Torres.
ACCOUNTANCY AGREEMENT DISCUSSED IN SINGAPORE
Board of Accountancy(BoA) Chairman Joel Tan-Torres and member Gerard Sanvictores attended the 82nd
ASEAN Coordinating Committee on Services meeting in Suntec Convention Center in Singapore on
September 30, 2015.
The ASEAN Mutual Recognition Arrangement (MRA) was discussed by the accountancy regulators and
representatives from the ten ASEAN countries. This MRA will facilitate the mobility of accountants to work in
the ASEAN region.

Hon. Joel L. Tan-Torres for the ASEAN Mutual Recognition Arrangement

The Board of Accountancy will soon launch an awareness campaign on the ASEAN Mutual Recognition
Arrangement (MRA) on Accountancy Services. This would be part of the ASEAN AWARENESS FOR
ACCOUNTANTS series or the 3A series.
The ASEAN MRA was signed last November 2014 by all ASEAN member states. It will be a matter of time
when the MRA will be implemented and will affect our entire accountancy profession, BoA Chairman Joel TanTorres said. We have been attending meetings of the ASEAN accountancy regulators and a road map has
already been formulated that will soon result in the enhanced mobility of ASEAN accountants within the region,
Chairman Tan-Torres added.

In order that all stakeholders in the accountancy profession are made aware of these important developments
in the MRA, the BoA will be posting information materials on the MRA in its Face Book (FB) and website.

Furthermore, flyers and brochures on the MRA will be published and disseminated. The Continuing
Professional Development seminars and modules will offer topics on the MRA.
We need to be prepared and ready to meet the opportunities that the MRA will bring. At the same time, we
should all be ready to face the competition from the other ASEAN countries that will result in challenges to our
accountants, Chairman Tan-Torres said.
The followers of the BoA FB are encouraged to post questions and topics that they would want to be included
in this 3A series. The topics can be also be emailed to boa.secretariat@gmail.