Brussels, 12/01/2007 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission has launched a public consultation exercise on its future strategy and priorities on statutory audit in relation to non-EU countries (known as 'third countries'), which will run until 5 March 2007. The 2006 Directive on Statutory Audit (2006/43/EC), which comes into force in 2008, applies not only to EU auditors and audit firms but also to audit firms from third countries (see EUROPE 9199). It requires third-country audit firms to register in each EU Member State where their clients' securities are admitted to trading The Commission wants to know the business community's views on how third-country audit firms could be supervised and on how the EU could cooperate with third countries.
In its consultation document, the Commission points out that the Directive on Statutory Audit empowers the European Commission to decide on the equivalence of third-country audit systems and also empowers the Commission to grant a transitional period for audit firms from third countries that cannot yet benefit from equivalence. The consultation seeks views on priorities in equivalence assessment of third countries' audit regulation, potential coordination of registration procedures for third-country audit firms among EU Member States, and a possible role for the European Group of Auditors Oversight Bodies (EGAOB) (see EUROPE 9090). The consultation also seeks interested parties' views on the scope for cooperation with third-country competent authorities on the transfer of audit working papers held by EU audit firms.
Preliminary estimates indicate that some 220 audit firms auditing issuers from about 63 non-EU countries will be affected by the new rules. (mb)