Terms and Conditions

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This register contains details of third country audit firms registered with the Professional Oversight Board in accordance with the UK requirements that give effect to provisions in the Statutory Audit Directive ("the Directive" - 2006/43/EC).

Third country audit firms are defined in Article 2(4) of the Directive and in Sections 1242 and 1261 of the Companies Act 2006. A third country audit firm must register with the Professional Oversight Board if it audits the annual or consolidated accounts of a company incorporated outside the European Union/European Economic Area (EU/EEA) whose transferable securities are admitted to trading on a regulated market in the United Kingdom. However, no registration is required if the company is an issuer exclusively of debt securities within the meaning of Article 2 (1) (b) of the Directive, the denomination of which is at least EUR 50,000 per unit or equivalent value. For more detail on the background, who needs to register, and how to apply for registration, please follow this link: http://www.frc.org.uk/pob/regulation/auditors.cfm

The register shows the status of each third country audit firm either as "transitional" or as "registered".

An audit firm is shown as "Transitional" where it has been accepted for registration in accordance with the requirements of the European Commission Decision of 29 July 2008 (2008/627/EC). Only audit entities from one of the countries listed in the Annex can apply for registration under the Commission's Decision. The countries on the list either already have some form of audit regulation in place or are considering changes that would put a system of audit regulation in place. However, it is important to be aware that there are wide differences in the nature and extent of audit regulation in the countries listed in the Annex. "Transitional" status provides no assurance as to the extent to which that firm is subject to audit regulation in its home country. Nor, where the audit firm is regulated in its home country, is it necessarily the case that the specific audit(s) of the relevant issuer(s) fall within the scope of the home country regulatory regime and, for example, are liable to review in the home country. Audit entities registered by the Oversight Board in accordance with the transitional arrangements will not normally be subject to inspection by the Oversight Board.

Where the third country audit firm is from a country not listed in the Annex to the Commission's Decision, it must apply for registration according to Article 45 of the Directive. Its status is then shown in the register as "Registered". The information that such firms have to submit on their application for registration is on Form B which should be read with the accompanying guidance. This information is subject only to limited checks at the application stage. Firms with this status are unlikely to be subject to substantive or independent regulation in their home country. Such firms are in principle subject to periodic external inspections by or on behalf of the Oversight Board. We expect to consider with other auditor oversight bodies in Europe how that requirement can best be met, with a view to consulting formally on this during 2010.

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