Brussels, 04/10/2013 (Agence Europe) - The lifting of the United Kingdom's opposition to the idea of compulsory rotation of auditors made it possible on Friday 4 October to lift the veto on changes to the EU's auditing rules. Lithuania now has a negotiating mandate for talks with the European Parliament.
A close source said they didn't think it was going to be possible and it had been a battle, with countries like Germany and Hungary unable to give their go-ahead.
The member states call for compulsory rotation of auditing firms every ten years, which can be extended to 15 years for public interest companies of risk to the economy, like banks and big blue chips, or 20 years for public interest companies audited by a number of firms. Companies not of a danger to the economy will have to change their auditors every 20 years. Like the Parliament, the Council of Ministers has drawn up a blacklist of services that auditing houses must not supply (in order to avoid conflicts of interest), such as tax calculations and accountancy. EMSA, the European securities authority, will provide assistance to the new committee of national auditing regulators. (MB/transl.fl)