FAQ

A: Yes. The current Cuban Auditing Standards came into effect on January 1, 2021.

The Cuban Auditing Standards are essential for the credibility, quality, and professionalism of auditing. Their objective is to promote effective auditing, thereby increasing the level of confidence of potential users. Compliance with these Standards, together with the Auditors' Code of Ethics, constitutes the primary guide for the behavior and actions of auditors within the National Audit System.

The review and update process of the Cuban Auditing Standards was carried out based on acquired experience and in accordance with the fundamental principles of Level 3 and Quality Control of the International Standards of Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs), the Lima Declaration, and the Declaration on the Independence of SAIs. The regulatory and methodological framework for auditing was adapted to the characteristics of the country and structured from the general to the specific to facilitate and standardize the auditor's work.

The Cuban Auditing Standards contain the framework, the elements of the audit, the evaluation by type of audit, and the rating of internal control. They establish the principles related to organizational requirements, general requirements, and the audit process.

There is a Procedures Manual (Resolution 364-2023) that aims to methodologically regulate these processes. It establishes tools that facilitate the examination of Public Funds and the Administrative Management subject to verification.

The structure of the Procedures Manual for prevention and control actions is divided into Volumes I and II:

Volume I. Procedures for prevention and control actions, Chapter I. Audit procedures and Chapter II. Procedures for other prevention and control actions.

Volume II. Templates, The document templates, general and specific, are grouped by codes and numbered to facilitate their identification, those used in the application of the procedures of Volume I.

A/ The Code of Ethics (Resolution 162/2020) constitutes a declaration of the values and principles that, together with compliance with Cuban Auditing Standards, should serve as the primary guide for the behavior and actions of auditors within the National Audit System, regardless of their position or specific responsibility. Its objective is to promote effective auditing that increases the level of trust among potential users, thereby guaranteeing the credibility, quality, and professionalism of the audit. This Code is aligned with the International Standards of Supreme Audit Institutions (ISSAI), specifically ISSAI 30 Code of Ethics, of the International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions.

The auditors of the National Audit System embrace the ethical precepts that should govern the conduct and personal actions of all those who assume the responsibility of this dignified profession, as a necessary qualitative complement in compliance with the Constitution of the Republic of Cuba and other legal provisions, applying the Cuban Audit Standards and their Procedures Manual with efficiency and effectiveness.

R/ La Contraloría General de la República, es el órgano del Estado que tiene como misión fundamental velar por la correcta y transparente administración de los fondos públicos y el control superior sobre la gestión administrativa.

Los fondos públicos son todos los recursos financieros, de carácter tributario y no tributario, con los que cuenta el Estado en sus diferentes niveles de organización territorial, que se generan, obtienen u originan en la producción de bienes o prestación de servicios que realizan las personas jurídicas y naturales; y los recursos, bienes y derechos asignados por el Estado.

La gestión administrativa es la que se realiza para la satisfacción de los intereses públicos y generales, e implica la correcta y transparente utilización de los medios y recursos de todo tipo, con estricto apego a la legalidad, y se expresa en el diseño e implementación del Sistema de Control Interno en cada organización y entidad.

La Contraloría General de la República rige su trabajo, fundamentalmente, por la Ley 158 “De la Contraloría General de la República y el Sistema de Control Superior de los Fondos Públicos y de la Gestión Administrativa”, de 13 de diciembre de 2022 y el Decreto Presidencial 674/2023, Reglamento de la mencionada Ley, de 6 de septiembre de 2023.

¿Cómo se elige al Contralor General y los Vicecontralores Generales?

R/ El Contralor General de la República es elegido por la Asamblea Nacional del Poder Popular a propuesta del Presidente de la República, y solo puede ser revocado por esta; el Consejo de Estado puede suspenderlo del ejercicio de sus responsabilidades entre uno y otro período de sesiones del órgano legislativo, al que da cuenta en su sesión más próxima, a los efectos que corresponda.

Los Vicecontralores Generales de la República son elegidos y revocados por la Asamblea Nacional del Poder Popular o el Consejo de Estado, a instancias del Contralor General, en la forma que la ley establece.

Por su parte, los contralores jefes provinciales, del municipio especial Isla de la Juventud y los demás contralores y auditores de la Contraloría General de la República son designados por el Contralor General, teniendo en cuenta los requisitos establecidos en la ley.

¿Existen Contralorías provinciales y municipales?

R/ Las contralorías provinciales y del municipio especial Isla de la Juventud, tienen similar funciones a la Contraloría General en el ámbito de sus territorios. Para su cumplimiento, disponen de departamentos, teniendo en cuenta la diversidad y complejidad del desarrollo económico social de cada territorio.

El Contralor General, a propuesta del Contralor Jefe Provincial, aprueba la creación de secciones para atender la actividad de la Contraloría en los territorios que se determinen. Las secciones atienden uno o varios municipios, según el caso, y radican en uno de esos municipios. Se pueden constituir grupos u otras formas de organización del trabajo en los casos que resulte necesario.

Las contralorías provinciales y del municipio especial Isla de la Juventud tienen su sede en la capital de la provincia y en la cabecera municipal, respectivamente.

A/ In the context of administrative management, corruption is understood as actions contrary to ethics and regulations by managers, public officials, or other designated personnel, in the exercise of their position or in the performance of their assigned function; characterized by a loss of ethical values, incompatible with the principles of Cuban society, committed to satisfy personal interests or those of a third party, with the improper use of powers, assets, and services intended to satisfy the public or social interest, with the purpose of obtaining material benefits or advantages of any kind, and based fundamentally on administrative lack of control, deception, bribery, and disloyalty.

A/Prevention and control actions aim to mitigate risks, non-conformities, causes and conditions that generate them, and their effects; they include exchange and advisory visits, concurrent control, investigations and diagnostics, all types of audits, special verifications, supervision, comprehensive state control and re-control, inspections by the Office of the Comptroller General of the Republic, all of which are regulated in Presidential Decree 674, Regulations of Law 158 of December 13, 2022, and others in accordance with their fundamental mission.

The Office of the Comptroller General of the Republic may carry out any of the aforementioned prevention and control actions. The organizational units of internal audit and base internal auditors carry out: exchange and advisory visits; concurrent controls; investigations and diagnostics; audits; special verifications and supervision, as regards supervision and control visits within their system.

For their part, the directorates and companies authorized to carry out external audits perform audits and supervision, as regards supervision and control visits within their system.

The Audit carried out by the Office of the Comptroller General of the Republic and the National Audit System fulfills a state function, and in general, it is essentially oriented toward:

1. Evaluating the effectiveness of policies, norms, regulations, and procedures issued by bodies, agencies, and entities; based on their results, presenting recommendations to the competent authorities.
2. Reviewing compliance with action plans adopted by administrations to address deficiencies and irregularities detected in previous prevention and control actions.
3. Verifying the status of the internal control system implemented by the administration in the aspects under examination, in accordance with the principles established in the Law and corresponding complementary regulations.
4. Identifying and quantifying economic damages and losses.
5. Analyzing the causes and conditions that gave rise to the detected deficiencies and irregularities.
6. Identifying administrative responsibilities and ethical non-compliance in relation to the deficiencies and irregularities that are detected.