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11 September 2009

Statutory Audit: Commission proposes cooperation on the exchange of audit working with Canada, Japan and Switzerland


The Commission is now tabling a proposal to allow Member States' auditor monitoring bodies to exchange audit working papers with their counterparts from Canada, Japan and Switzerland upon the signature of working arrangements.

The European Commission will table a draft decision to allow Member States to exchange audit working papers with Canada, Japan and Switzerland by recognising the adequacy of the competent authorities from these countries under the Statutory Audit Directive.

 
Adequacy refers to the ability of a third country authority to fulfil the requirements set out in Article 47 of the Statutory Audit Directive and, in particular, its capacity to enter into reciprocal working arrangements with Member States' auditor monitoring bodies on the exchange of audit working papers or other relevant documents between competent authorities, and to preserve the confidentiality of any such documents that it may receive from EU Member States.
 
The Statutory Audit Directive introduces a system of independent public auditor monitoring and a model of cooperation with third countries. As auditing has long moved beyond national borders, international cooperation is necessary to ensure that high quality audits are carried out worldwide.
 
The Commission is committed to close cooperation on auditor monitoring with its main trading partners. Canada, Japan and Switzerland have indicated their openness to cooperate with EU Member States on the exchange of audit working papers. These third countries also have the necessary legal framework in place to facilitate such cooperation. Therefore, the Commission is now tabling a proposal to allow Member States' auditor monitoring bodies to exchange audit working papers with their counterparts from Canada, Japan and Switzerland upon the signature of working arrangements.
 
The United States also seems open towards cooperation with the Member States on the exchange of audit working papers, but it has not yet established the necessary legal mechanism to allow for mutual exchange. In the event that the United States puts in place the necessary framework for mutual exchange of audit working papers with the EU public monitoring bodies, the Commission will, before the vote on this measure, include the competent authorities from the United States in the current proposal.
 
 


© European Commission


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