THIRD-COUNTRY AUDITORS AND AUDIT ENTITIES – PART B

                                                                                                                              Italian Version

Part B - Registration requirements

Registration in Part B is subject to the existence of the following conditions:

• applicant is based in a third-country considered as "equivalent" in accordance with Art. 46 of Directive 2006/43/EC;
• applicant is required to issue the statutory audit opinion concerning the annual accounts or consolidated accounts of the entities referred to Art. 34, par. 1 of Legislative Decree no. 39 of 2010;
• the requesting auditor otherwise, in case of audit entities, all members of the management bodies as well as those responsible for the engagement of the entities referred to Art. 34, par. 1 of Legislative Decree no. 39 of 2010 must possess the integrity requirements certified according to Art. 7 of the third-country Regulation;
• the conditions established by CONSOB in accordance with Art. 36, par. 4 of Legislative Decree no. 39 of 2010 are applied.

Derogation in the case of equivalence

Pursuant to Article 36 of Legislative Decree no. 39 of 2010, Consob may decide not to apply, in whole or in part, the provisions referred to in Articles 34 and 35 of the same decree, with regard to third-country auditors or audit entities which are subjected, in the third country in which they are based, to systems of public oversight, quality control, investigations and sanctions that meet requirements equivalent to those set out in article 46, paragraph 1 of directive 2006/43/EC.

The exceptions are established on the basis of reciprocity and on condition that cooperation agreements have been entered into, including through the exchange of information, documents and working papers, between the Italian authorities and the system of public surveillance, quality control, investigations and sanctions of the third country.

To this end, Consob regulates the appropriate implementing provisions with its own regulation, and communicates to the European Commission the main elements of the cooperation agreements and the equivalence assessments carried out.

For further information, please visit the institutional website (CONSOB) and the Regulation no. 22358 of 6 December 2022 regarding the supervision of third-country auditors and auditing entities and exemptions in the event of equivalence, approved in implementation of the Articles nos. 35, paragraph 3 and 36, paragraph 4 of the Legislative Decree no. 39/2010.