Audit Inspections EuropeanIssuers final 090629

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EUROPEANISSUERS’ POSITION ON OVERSIGHT OF STATUTORY AUDITORS BY THIRD COUNTRIES OVERSIGHT BODIES ‐ CONFIDENTIALITY OF INFORMATION POSITION 29 JUNE 2009 I) Background The statutory auditors of European companies listed in the United States are subject to registration and inspections by the US authorities, namely the PCAOB and the SEC. thIn the framework of the Directive 2006/43/EC on “statutory audits”, hereinafter the “8 Directive”, EU audit oversight bodies may enter into cooperation agreements with third countries oversight bodies provided those authorities are considered equivalent by a European Commission decision. In January 2009 the Commission published a draft Decision for discussion with Member States listing the third countries public oversight bodies that would be considered equivalent to the EU counterparties. However the draft Decision was put on hold because the PCAOB does not grant reciprocity to EU oversight bodies nor does it foresee confidentiality. As long as the Commission’s Decision will not have been published, all stakeholders (Member States, EU oversight bodies, statutory auditors and audited companies) will be in a situation of legal uncertainty. Indeed it is not clear what the impact of the 8th Directive is on previous agreements made with the US oversight bodies. Should previous agreements be maintained? Should separate discussions with US bodies be entered into ...

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Publié par	Methong
Nombre de lectures	39
Langue	Latin

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EUROPEANISSUERS’POSITIONONOVERSIGHTOFSTATUTORYAUDITORSBYTHIRDCOUNTRIESOVERSIGHTBODIES‐ CONFIDENTIALITYOFINFORMATIONPOSITION29JUNE2009I) BackgroundThestatutoryauditorsofEuropeancompanieslistedintheUnitedStatesaresubjecttoregistrationandinspectionsbytheUSauthorities,namelythePCAOBandtheSEC.th IntheframeworkoftheDirective2006/43/ECon“statutoryaudits”,hereinafterthe“8Directive”,EUauditoversightbodiesmayenterintocooperationagreementswiththirdcountriesoversightbodiesprovidedthoseauthoritiesareconsideredequivalentbyaEuropeanCommissiondecision.InJanuary2009theCommissionpublishedadraftDecisionfordiscussionwithMemberStateslistingthethirdcountriespublicoversightbodiesthatwouldbeconsideredequivalenttotheEUcounterparties.HoweverthedraftDecisionwasputonholdbecausethePCAOBdoesnotgrantreciprocitytoEUoversightbodiesnordoesitforeseeconfidentiality.AslongastheCommission’sDecisionwillnothavebeenpublished,allstakeholders(MemberStates,EUoversightbodies,statutoryauditorsandauditedcompanies)willbeinasituationoflegaluncertainty.Indeeditisnotclearwhattheimpactofthe8thDirectiveisonpreviousagreementsmadewiththeUSoversightbodies.Shouldpreviousagreementsbemaintained?ShouldseparatediscussionswithUSbodiesbeenteredinto?WewouldregretsuchanonEUapproachforitwouldnotbringtheharmonisationwanted.Withinthatframeworkandatleastinatransitionalphase,theUSauthoritiesenvisagetocarryoutjointinspectionsintheEuropeanUnion,underconditionsthatarenotsatisfactoryforlistedcompanies,for:theconfidentialityofdocumentsrelatingtoauditedcompaniesandofinformation communicatedbythosecompanieswouldnotbesafeguarded;thetransferofdatabytheUSauditoversightbodiestootherUSauthorities ‐tax administration,competitionauthorities,etc‐wouldnotbeexplicitlyprohibited(evenif,th accordingtoarticle47/2/cofthe8Directivetheauditoversightbodieswouldbeallowedtousethatinformationonly«fortheexerciseoftheirfunctionsofpublicoversight,qualityassuranceandinvestigations»).EuropeanIssuers’RegistrationnumberwiththeEuropeanCommission26066491429‐191

II) EuropeanIssuersViews1 AstheCommissionerfortheInternalMarketandServicesstatedinFebruary2009 ,itisessentialtoensurethattheUnitedStatesarereadytocooperatewiththeEuropeanUnionfully,baseduponmutualtrustandmutualassistance.Listedcompanieswouldwelcomeatransatlanticagreement.Howeverwealsobelievethatafirmpositionontheprincipleofreciprocityandonconfidentialityrulesisfundamental,inparticularregardingthetransferofdocumentsrelatingtoauditedcompaniesandofanyinformationcommunicatedbythosecompanies.Moreover,itshouldbedefinedatEuropeanlevelwhichdocumentsandinformationarewithinthescopeofarticle47/1oftheth 8Directive.Moreprecisely,EuropeanIssuerstakesthefollowingviews:•Listedcompaniesmustnotbepenalisedbyanymeasuretakenbyathirdcountryoversightbodythatwouldresultincontraveninglistingrules,innotrecognizingtheopinionexpressedbytheirstatutoryauditor(s),inbeingobligedtochangestatutoryauditorsorinsignificantadditionalauditwork;•Thecooperationagreementswiththirdcountriesshouldclearlystatetheobjectiveofmutualrecognitioninthenearfuture,withouttransferofauditdocumentsorofotherauditrelateddocuments;•ThedialoguebetweentheEuropeanCommissionandtheUScompetentauthoritiesshouldcontinueinordertobettertakeintoaccounttheEuropeaninterests.ThedurationoftheCommission’sDecisionshouldbelimitedintime.Additionally,concerningthecompetenceofthePCAOBtheDecisionshouldcontainlimitationsliketheprohibitionthatthePCAOBisnotentitledtotransferalltypesofinformation;•TheCommission’sdraftDecisionshouldbeadaptedasfollows:whileaffirmingtheobjectiveofmutualtrust,itshouldprohibitthetransfertoUSauthoritiesofdocumentsrelatedtoauditedcompanies,ofinformationcommunicatedbythosecompaniesorofinformationenablingauditedcompaniestobeidentified;•Whenthirdcountries’authoritiesparticipateininspectionsofstatutoryauditorsinEuropeorwouldobservethoseinspections,suchshouldnotleadtothosethirdcountriesfindingaccesstotheaboveinformation;•WeshouldlookatpossiblewaystoovercometheUSlegalprovisionsthatwouldpreventtheUSfromgivingguaranteestotheEuropeanUnionconcerningthetransferofdocumentsbytheUScompetentauthoritiestootherUSauthorities._______________________1 See“AuditWorkingpapers–StatementCharlieMcCreevyCommissionerfortheInternalMarketandServices”,19February2009athttp://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/auditing/relations/index_en.htm. EuropeanIssuers’RegistrationnumberwiththeEuropeanCommission26066491429‐192

EuropeanIssuersisapanEuropeanorganisationsetuptopromotetheinterestsofissuingcompanies.Itsmembersarenationalassociationsandcompaniesfrom14Europeancountriescountingtogethersome9.200listedcompanieswithacombinedmarketvalueofsome€4.500billion.AssuchitrepresentsthevastmajorityofpubliclyquotedcompaniesinEurope.ThemembersofEuropeanIssuerscomefromvarioussectorsincludingautomotive,nutrition,energy,healthcare,construction,financialservicesandmanymore.WhatbringsthemtogetherinEuropeanIssuersisthattheyareallownedbythepublic,makingthemsubjecttoanimpressivesetofcomplexandstringentrulesandregulations.ThroughEuropeanIssuerslistedcompaniescanengageindirectdiscussionswiththedecisionmakersatEuropean,trans‐Atlanticandgloballevel.Typicalareasofinterestincludeshareholderrights,corporategovernance,transparency,clearingandsettlementaswellasfinancialreportingandauditing.Ourultimategoalistoachievefullyintegrated,liquidandwellfunctioningEuropeanfinancialmarkets.Moreinformationcanbefoundonwww.europeanissuers.eu.

EuropeanIssuers’RegistrationnumberwiththeEuropeanCommission26066491429‐19

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