Regulation 108
SCHEDULE 1U.K.Approval of Equivalent Third Countries and Transitional Third Countries
Equivalent third countriesU.K.
1.—[(1) The EEA States and Gibraltar are approved as equivalent third countries for financial years beginning on or after IP completion day and are listed in column 1 of Table 1 of this Schedule.]
[(1A) The countries determined by the European Commission immediately before IP completion day as having an equivalent system of audit inspections, investigations and sanctions to those in the European Union by virtue of an instrument adopted under Article 46(2) of Directive 2006/43/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17th May 2006 on statutory audits of annual accounts and consolidated accounts, amending Council Directives 78/660/EEC and 83/349/EEC and repealing Council Directive 84/253/EEC, are approved as equivalent third countries and are listed in column 1 of Table 1 of this Schedule.]
[(2) Approval is granted for an indefinite period, unless a date is recorded in column 2 of the Table against a country’s name, in which case the approval ceases to apply for financial years beginning after that date.]
Textual Amendments
Commencement Information
Transitional third countriesU.K.
2.— ...
Table 1
Equivalent third country | Date of last day of approval |
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Abu Dhabi | |
Australia | |
[Austria] | |
[Belgium] | |
Brazil | |
[Bulgaria] | |
Canada | |
China | |
[Croatia] | |
[Cyprus] | |
[Czech Republic] | |
[Denmark] | |
Dubai International Financial Centre | |
[Estonia] | |
[Finland] | |
[France] | |
[Germany] | |
[Gibraltar] | |
[Greece] | |
Guernsey | |
[Hungary] | |
[Iceland] | |
Indonesia | |
[Ireland] | |
Isle of Man | |
[Italy] | |
Japan | |
Jersey | |
[Latvia] | |
[Liechtenstein] | |
[Lithuania] | |
[Luxembourg] | |
Malaysia | |
[Malta] | |
Mauritius | |
[Netherlands] | |
New Zealand | |
[Norway] | |
[Poland] | |
[Portugal] | |
[Romania] | |
Singapore | |
[Slovakia] | |
[Slovenia] | |
South Africa | |
South Korea | |
[Spain] | |
[Sweden] | |
Switzerland | |
Taiwan | |
Thailand | |
Turkey | |
The United States of America | . . . |
Table 2
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Regulation 109
SCHEDULE 2U.K.Approval of Third Country Competent Authorities
Approved third country competent authoritiesU.K.
1.—[(1) The competent authorities of the EEA States and Gibraltar are approved as approved third country competent authorities on IP completion day and are listed in column 1 of Table 3 of this Schedule.]
[(1A) The third country competent authorities which the European Commission has decided immediately before IP completion day are adequate to cooperate with the competent authorities of Member States on the exchange of audit working papers or other documents held by statutory auditors and audit firms under Article 47(3) of Directive 2006/43/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17th May 2006 on statutory audits of annual accounts and consolidated accounts, amending Council Directives 78/660/EEC and 83/349/EEC and repealing Council Directive 84/253/EEC are approved as approved third country competent authorities and are listed in column 1 of Table 3 of this Schedule.]
(2) Approval is granted for an indefinite period, unless a date is recorded in column 2 of the Table against a third country competent authority's name, in which case the approval ceases to apply after that date.
Table 3
Approved third country competent authority | Date of last day of approval |
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The Australian Securities and Investments Commission | |
Austrian Auditing Oversight Authority | . . . |
Belgian Audit Oversight College | . . . |
The Comissão de Valores Mobiliários of Brazil | |
Commission for public oversight of statutory auditors Bulgaria | . . . |
The Canadian Public Accountability Board | |
[The Ministry of Finance of the People's Republic of China | 14 November 2024] |
[The Securities Regulatory Commission of the People's Republic of China | 14 November 2024] |
Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Croatia | . . . |
Cyprus Audit Oversight Board | . . . |
Public Audit Oversight Board of the Czech Republic | . . . |
Danish Business Authority | . . . |
The Dubai Financial Service Authority of Dubai International Financial Centre | |
Estonian Auditing Oversight Board | . . . |
Finnish Patent and Registration Office - Auditor Oversight Unit | . . . |
Haut Conseil du Commissariat aux Comptes France | . . . |
Audit Oversight Body Germany | . . . |
Gibraltar Financial Services Commission | . . . |
Hellenic Accounting and Auditing Standards Oversight Board | . . . |
The Registrar of Companies of Guernsey | |
Auditors' Public Oversight Authority - Ministry for National Economy of Hungary | . . . |
Audit Oversight Board Iceland | . . . |
. . . | . . . |
Irish Auditing and Accounting Supervisory Authority | . . . |
Isle of Man Financial Services Authority | |
Commissione Nazionale per le Societa e la Borsa Italy | . . . |
The Financial Services Agency of Japan | |
The Certified Public Accountants and Auditing Oversight Board of Japan | |
The Jersey Financial Services Commission | |
Ministry of Finance of Latvia Commercial Companies Audit Policy and Oversight Unit | . . . |
Financial market authority Liechtenstein | . . . |
Authority of Audit, Accounting, Property Valuation and Insolvency of Lithuania | . . . |
Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier Luxembourg | . . . |
The Audit Oversight Board of Malaysia | |
Accountancy Board Malta | . . . |
The Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets | . . . |
Finanstilsynet Norway | . . . |
Audit Oversight Commission Poland | . . . |
Comissão do Mercado de Valores Mobiliários Portugal | . . . |
Authority for Public Oversight of the Statutory Audit Activity Romania | . . . |
Auditing Oversight Authority Slovakia | . . . |
Agency of Public Oversight of Auditing Slovenia | . . . |
The Independent Regulatory Board for Auditors of South Africa | [30 April 2026] |
The Financial Services Commission of South Korea | |
Financial Supervisory Service of South Korea | |
Instituto de Contabilidad y Auditoría de Cuentas Spain | . . . |
Swedish Inspectorate of Auditors | . . . |
The Federal Audit Oversight Authority of Switzerland | |
The Financial Supervisory Commission of Taiwan | |
The Securities and Exchange Commission of Thailand | |
The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board of the United States of America | . . . |
The Securities and Exchange Commission of the United States of America | . . . |
Textual Amendments
Commencement Information
Regulation 110
SCHEDULE 3U.K.Revocation of retained direct EU legislation
1. The following instruments are revoked—U.K.
(a)Commission Decision No. 2008/627/EC of 29 July 2008 concerning a transitional period for audit activities of certain third country auditors and audit entities;
(b)Commission Decision 2010/64 of 5 February 2010 on the adequacy of the competent authorities of certain third countries pursuant to Directive 2006/43/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council;
(c)Commission Decision 2010/485/EU of 1 September 2010 on the adequacy of the competent authorities of Australia and the United States pursuant to Directive 2006/43/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council;
(d)Commission Decision 2011/30/EU of 19 January 2011 on the equivalence of certain third country public oversight, quality assurance, investigation and penalty systems for auditors and audit entities and a transitional period for audit activities of certain third country auditors and audit entities in the European Union;
(e)Commission Implementing Decision 2013/281/EU of 11 June 2013 on the equivalence of the public oversight, quality assurance, investigation and penalty systems for auditors and audit entities of the United States of America pursuant to Directive 2006/43/EC of the European Parliament and the Council;
(f)Commission Implementing Decision 2013/288/EU of 13 June 2013 amending Decision 2011/30/EU on the equivalence of certain third country public oversight, quality assurance, investigation and penalty systems for auditors and audit entities and a transitional period for audit activities of certain third country auditors and audit entities in the European Union;
(g)Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2016/1010 of 21 June 2016 on the adequacy of the competent authorities of certain third countries and territories pursuant to Directive 2006/43/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council;
(h)Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2016/1155 of 14 July 2016 on the equivalence of the public oversight, quality assurance, investigation and penalty systems for auditors and audit entities of the United States of America pursuant to Directive 2006/43/EC of the European Parliament and the Council;
(i)Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2016/1156 of 14 July 2016 on the adequacy of the competent authorities of the United States of America pursuant to Directive 2006/43/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council;
(j)Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2016/1223 of 25 July 2016 amending Decision 2011/30/EU on the equivalence of certain third country public oversight, quality assurance, investigation and penalty systems for auditors and audit entities and a transitional period for audit activities of certain third country auditors and audit entities in the European Union.
[(k)Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2019/1874 of 6 November 2019 on the adequacy of the competent authorities of the People’s Republic of China pursuant to Directive 2006/43/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council.]
Textual Amendments
Commencement Information
Regulation 111
SCHEDULE 4U.K.Transitional provisions
1. The amendments made by the following regulations do not apply in relation to audits of accounts for financial years that begin before [IP completion day]—U.K.
[(za)regulations 4 and 50(b); ]
(a)regulations 8(a)(i), 53(a)(i) and 66(d)(i), in so far as they exempt public interest entities, whose transferable securities are admitted to trading on a regulated market situated or operating in an EEA State but not in the United Kingdom, from having to appoint auditors in accordance with—
(i)Articles 16 and 17 of the Audit Regulation;
(ii)sections 485A to 485C, 489A to 489C and 494ZA of the Companies Act 2006; and
(iii)in relation to limited liability partnerships, sections 485A to 485C and 494ZA of the Companies Act 2006 as applied with modifications by regulations 34A and 38A of the Limited Liability Partnerships (Accounts and Audit) (Application of Companies Act 2006) Regulations 2008;
(b)regulations 32(d)(i) and 66(d)(i), in so far as they exempt statutory auditors of public interest entities, whose transferable securities are admitted to trading on a regulated market situated or operating in an EEA State but not in the United Kingdom, from being subject to—
(i)regulations 5(1)(f) and 9(1) of the Statutory Auditors and Third Country Auditors Regulations 2016 and Articles 24(1)(a) and (c), and 26 of the Audit Regulation, on inspections of audits of public interest entities by the competent authority and any enforcement action taken following those inspections; and
(ii)paragraph 10C of Schedule 10 to the Companies Act 2006, regulations 13 and 13A of, and Schedule 1 to, the Statutory Auditors and Third Country Auditors Regulations 2016, and Articles 4 to 11, 17(7) and 18 of the Audit Regulation, on technical standards and of other standards of professional ethics and internal quality control of statutory audits of public interest entities;
(c)regulation 80(a)(iv) and (vi), and (d)(iv)—
(i)in relation to the provision of non-audit services to subsidiary undertakings in third countries which are not EEA States and parent undertakings in EEA States; and
(ii)where, for the purposes of Article 5(1) of the Audit Regulation, “within the Union” means in an EEA State or the United Kingdom.
Textual Amendments
Commencement Information
[1A. In its continuing application in relation to audits of accounts for financial years that begin before IP completion day, section 479A(1)(b) of the Companies Act 2006 (including as modified by regulation 34A of the Limited Liability Partnerships (Accounts and Audit) (Application of Companies Act 2006) Regulations 2008) must be treated as if the reference to a parent undertaking being established under the law of an EEA State included a reference to a parent undertaking being established under the law of any part of the United Kingdom.]
2. In relation to audits of accounts for financial years that begin before [IP completion day] —U.K.
(a)Gibraltar, or a third country which immediately before [IP completion day] was an EEA State, is to be treated by the competent authority as if it is [an equivalent third country];
(b)a third country which was determined by the European Commission as having an equivalent system of audit inspections, investigations and sanctions to those in the European Union by virtue of an instrument adopted under Article 46(2) of Directive 2006/43/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on statutory audits of annual accounts and consolidated accounts, is to be treated by the competent authority as an equivalent third country for those financial years to which the instrument applied in relation to that country;
(c)a third country which was the subject of transitional arrangements in respect of its system of audit inspections, investigations and sanctions in the European Union by virtue of an instrument adopted under Article 46(2) of Directive 2006/43/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on statutory audits of annual accounts and consolidated accounts, is to be treated by the competent authority as a transitional third country for those financial years to which the instrument applied in relation to that country.
Textual Amendments
Commencement Information
3. For investigations under the Statutory Auditors and Third Country Auditors Regulations 2016 that begin before [IP completion day], and any enforcement action taken under those Regulations following those investigations, the amendments made by regulations 32(d)(i) and 66(d)(i) do not apply in so far as they exempt statutory auditors of public interest entities, whose transferable securities are admitted to trading on a regulated market situated or operating in an EEA State but not in the United Kingdom, from being subject to regulation 5(1)(f) and Schedule 2 to the Statutory Auditors and Third Country Auditors Regulations 2016, and Article 24(1)(b) and (c) of the Audit Regulation, on investigations of audits of public interest entities by the competent authority.U.K.
Textual Amendments
Commencement Information
4. For the purposes of this Schedule—U.K.
(a)the definitions in Part 42 of the Companies Act 2006 apply; and
(b)Gibraltar must be treated as if it were an EEA State.