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European Union - 8th
Company Law Directive
DIRECTIVE
2006/43/EC
Article 22
Independence and objectivity
1. Member States shall ensure that when carrying out a statutory
audit, the statutory auditor and/or the audit firm is independent
of the audited entity and is not involved in the decision-
taking of the audited entity.
2. Member States shall ensure that a statutory auditor or an
audit firm shall
not carry out a statutory audit if there is any
direct or indirect financial, business, employment or other
relationship— including the provision of additional non-audit
services —
between the statutory auditor, audit firm
or
network and the audited entity from which an objective,
reasonable and informed third party would conclude that the
statutory auditor's or audit firm's
independence is compromised.
If the statutory auditor's or audit firm's independence is
affected by threats, such as self-review, self-interest, advocacy,
familiarity or trust or intimidation, the statutory auditor or
audit firm must apply safeguards in order to mitigate those
threats.
If the significance of the threats compared to the safeguards
applied is such that his, her or its independence is compromised,
the statutory auditor or audit firm
shall not
carry out the statutory audit.
Member States shall in addition ensure that, where statutory
audits of public-interest entities are concerned
and where
appropriate to safeguard the statutory auditor's or audit firm's
independence, a statutory auditor or an audit firm shall not
carry out a statutory audit in cases of self-review or
self interest.
3. Member States shall ensure that a statutory auditor or
audit firm
documents in the audit working papers all significant
threats to his, her or its independence
as well as the safeguards
applied to mitigate those threats.
4. In order to ensure confidence in the audit function and to
ensure uniform application of paragraphs 1 and 2 of this
Article, the Commission may, in accordance with the procedure
referred to in Article 48(2), adopt principle-based implementing
measures concerning:
(a) the threats and safeguards referred to in paragraph 2;
(b) the situations in which the significance of the threats, as
referred to in paragraph 2, is such that the independence of
the statutory auditor or audit firm is compromised;
(c) the cases of self-review and self-interest referred to in the
second subparagraph of paragraph 2, in which statutory
audits may or may not be carried out.
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