Auditing Firms

Auditing Firms

Register of audit firms in the Register of statutory auditors at the Ministry of Economy and Finance, accessible at the link:

Register of statutory auditors at the Ministry of the Economy and Finance, which can be consulted by the following methods of consultation, research and data extraction, which also includes the auditing firms previously registered in the Special Register held by Consob referred to in the Article no. 161 of the Legislative Decree no. 58/98, repealed following the entry into force of the Legislative Decree no. 39/2010.

THIRD COUNTRY AUDIT ENTITIES

With the Regulation of the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF), 1 September 2022, no. 174 (published in the Official Gazette on 11 November, and in force since 26 November 2022), a special separate section was established in the Register of statutory auditors at this Ministry, called «Section of third-country auditors and auditing entities», relating to auditors and auditing bodies of third countries, pursuant to Article no. 34, paragraph 1, of the Legislative Decree no. 39 of 27 January 2010 . This regulatory intervention was adopted on the basis of the Article no. 34, paragraph 7, of the Legislative Decree no. 39 of 27 January 2010 and established the rules for the registration of these auditors.

Therefore, expires the transitional regime provided for by the Article no. 43, paragraph 9 of the aforementioned Legislative Decree no. 39/2010, according to which Consob provided for the registration of these subjects in the appropriate section of the Special Register of auditing firms envisaged by the Article no. 161 of the Legislative Decree no. 58 of 24 February 1998, according to the terms and procedures established by the same with Resolution no. 17439 of 27 July 2010. The registrations made according to the aforementioned transitional regime remain accessible as follows:

Based on the final and transitional provisions of the Regulation no. 174/22 of the Ministry of Economy and Finance , third-country auditors and auditing bodies, already registered by Consob in the aforementioned section of the Special Register - who submit, within 90 days of the entry into force of the aforementioned regulation, a specific application for registration in section part A or part B depending on the occurrence of the circumstances provided therein, respectively, by chapter II or III - may continue to carry out the statutory audit of the accounts of the entities referred to in the Article no. 34, paragraph 1 of the decree, until notification of the decision on the application for registration in the Section of auditors and auditing entities from third countries of the Register of statutory auditors.

Furthermore, until the date of registration in the Section of auditors and auditing bodies of third countries of the Register of statutory auditors or of the eventual rejection of the application for registration, the audit reports issued by third country auditors continue to have legal effects in Italy and by third-country auditing bodies already registered by Consob who have submitted said application within the aforementioned terms.

The Section of third-country auditors and auditing bodies set up in the Register of statutory auditors of the Ministry of Economy and Finance is divided into:

  • Part A, in which the auditors and auditing bodies of third countries referred to in the Article no. 34, paragraph 1 of the decree are registered, in compliance with the Article no. 45 of Directive no. 2006/43/EC as amended by Directive no. 2014/56/EU (also "Audit Directive");
  • Part B, which includes the auditors and auditing entities of third countries referred to in the Article no. 34, paragraph 1 of the decree, in compliance with the Article no. 36 of the decree, based in third countries which are assessed as equivalent in compliance with the Article no. 46 of the said Directive.

Furthermore, following the issue of the Regulation of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, Consob, in implementation of the Articles nos. 35, paragraph 3 and 36, paragraph 4 of the Legislative Decree no. 39/2010, approved 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.

The provisions contained in the Consob Regulation no. 22358 of 6 December 2022:

  • specify that Consob may declare, with a specific resolution, the equivalence of the systems of public control, quality control, investigations and sanctions of a third country, in the absence of a decision by the European Commission (Article no. 2), in compliance with the provisions of the Audit Directive;

  • provide for the exemption from quality controls for auditors registered in the appropriate section of the Register of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, where the conditions are met, consisting of reciprocity and the fact that they have been subjected in the previous three years to quality controls carried out by another State member or from a third country deemed equivalent, provided that Consob is promptly notified of when the last quality control took place and on which Authority carried it out (Article no. 3); this in order to allow Consob to have a clear framework of the foreign auditors who make use of the exemption for the first time and of those who can continue to make use of it (pursuant to paragraph no. 2) as they are subjected to subsequent quality controls;

  • refer to a specific Consob resolution regarding the recognition of derogations or exemptions (on the basis of reciprocity and on condition that cooperation agreements have been stipulated with the Authority of the third country, declared equivalent, in which the auditor is based) from the provisions of the Decree no. 39/2010 concerning the system of public control, quality control and investigations and sanctions, as well as with regard to the requirements for registration in Part B of the Register of the Ministry of Economy and Finance and the content of the application for registration (Article no. 4).