State-Led Audit Reform and ISA Adoption in Uzbekistan: Regulatory Transformation in a Central Asian Transition Economy

This article analyzes the state-led transformation of auditing in Uzbekistan with a specific focus on the adoption of International Standards on Auditing (ISA) and the construction of a new regulatory architecture for the audit profession. The study addresses a major gap in the international auditing literature by examining a Central Asian transition economy that has undergone rapid legal and institutional change in a compressed time period. Drawing on documentary analysis of laws, presidential decrees, cabinet resolutions, and official market statistics, the paper evaluates how Uzbekistan moved from a Soviet-legacy, compliance-oriented audit model toward an internationally aligned framework based on ISA, external quality assurance, registry reform, and revised certification arrangements. The findings demonstrate that the Uzbek reform trajectory is characterized by unusually strong state direction, accelerated formal convergence with international professional standards, and substantial market expansion. Between 2021 and 2025, the number of registered audit organizations increased from 96 to 175, the number of certified auditors rose from 651 to 1,296, and total market revenue reached 785.77 billion UZS. At the same time, the study shows that formal regulatory modernization has generated new implementation pressures related to market concentration, regional asymmetry, and variable organizational capacity. The article contributes to the literature by documenting a rare case of comprehensive audit reform in Central Asia and by demonstrating that ISA adoption in transition economies must be understood not merely as technical harmonization, but as a broader process of state-driven institutional restructuring.