European Business Organization Law Review

Table of Contents - March 2012 - Volume 13, Issue 01  

Articles

Auditor Independence at the Crossroads – Regulation and Incentives

Max Planck Institute Working Group on Auditor Independencea1

a1 Walter Doralt, Andreas M. Fleckner, Klaus J. Hopt, Christoph Kumpan, Felix Steffek, Reinhard Zimmermann (Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law), Alexander Hellgardt (Max Planck Institute for Tax Law and Public Finance) and Susanne Augenhofer (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin). This group submitted comments to the European Commission in 2010 (published as ‘Comments on the European Commission Green Paper’, Rivista delle Società (2011) pp. 485-493); that text has been substantially revised and updated, reflecting recent developments and in particular the publication of legislative drafts by the European Commission (see below).

Abstract

In November 2011, the European Commission published legislative drafts proposing radical reforms for statutory audits in Europe, fuelling heated political and academic debates. This paper presents cornerstones for a new regulatory framework of auditing and thereby contributes to the ongoing debate on the role of auditors and their independence.

Keywords

  • auditor independence;
  • auditing and consulting services;
  • bias;
  • publicinterest entities;
  • disclosure;
  • internal and external auditor rotation