, June 17 -- The Institute of Cost and Management Accountants of Bangladesh (ICMAB) has called for allowing its professionals the authority to conduct financial audits, particularly for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to foster competition and improve transparency in the country's audit system.

At a press conference held at the Economic Reporters' Forum (ERF) auditorium in Dhaka on Tuesday ICMAB President Mahtab Uddin Ahmed FCMA said a lack of professional and competitive auditing has led to serious gaps in financial oversight.

He said around US$17 billion has been laundered abroad by various companies, but these anomalies were not flagged in audits due to the limited capacity and inefficiency of existing audit firms.

"The current ...