Audit market

Audit firms: Commission consults on ways to help create more market players

On November 2008, the European Commission launched a public consultation on control structures in audit firms and on the possible ways forward. This followed an independent study on the ownership rules of audit firms and their consequences for audit market concentration (IP/07/1570).

• Press release (11.11.2008)
• Consultation

The public consultation on control structures in audit firms and their consequences on the audit market was closed on 28 February 2009. The contributions authorised for publication and the summary report are available here:

• Press release (15.07.2009)
• Summary report
• Contributions authorised for publication

Study on the ownership rules of audit firms

The European Commission has published an independent study on the ownership rules that apply to audit firms and their consequences on audit market concentration. The study analyses whether changes to the ownership rules of audit firms might help increase the number of international players in the audit market. At present, the European Statutory Audit Directive requires that auditors hold a majority of the voting rights in an audit firm and control the management board. The study will contribute to the Commission's work on how to improve competition in the audit market.

• Press release (23.10.2007)
• Report (pdf - 1,3 MB)
• Annex (pdf - 1 MB)