Discussion Paper for Auditor’s Role Regarding Providing Assurance on Corporate Governance Statements

EuropeanIssuers is preparing a letter in response to the Federation of European Accountants' (FEE) Discussion Paper for Auditor's Role Regarding Providing Assurance on Corporate Governance Statements on the impact such auditor involvement might have for companies, arguing that the statutory auditor's check of the corporate governance statements should be limited to what is required in the relevant Directive. The remaining information is subjective and assurance cannot be given by the auditor.

This leads onto another wide debate on the role and governance of auditors, with the proposed publication of a green paper in October. Issues such as concentration in the audit market and its implications for financial stability, the emergence of small and medium sized practitioners, the audit of SMEs; international standards on auditing and reinforcement of the supervision of audit firms at European level are all up for debate.

Discussion Paper for Auditor’s Role Regarding Providing Assurance on Corporate Governance Statements can be downloaded here.