New Statutory Audit Directive

On 25 April 2006 the Council of the European Union announced that it had adopted the directive on statutory audit of annual accounts and consolidated accounts amending the 4^th and 7^th Company Law Directives. The Council accepted all amendments voted by the European Parliament.

A Council statement said that the directive will, "reinforce the reliability of company financial statements by establishing minimum requirements for statutory audit of annual accounts and consolidated accounts".

Many of the reforms introduced in the directive are designed to enhance the EU’s protection against scandals such as Parmalat and Enron and aim to guarantee the independence of auditors and avoid conflict of interest. The directive includes requirements for:-