4.

Competent authorities shall, on request, and without undue delay, supply any information required for the purpose referred to in paragraph 1. Where necessary, the competent authorities receiving any such request shall, without undue delay, take the necessary measures to gather the required information. Information thus supplied shall be covered by the obligation of professional secrecy to which the persons employed or formerly employed by the competent authorities that received the information are subject. If the requested competent authority is not able to supply the required information without undue delay, it shall notify the requesting competent authority of the reasons therefor. The competent authorities may refuse to act on a request for information where: supplying information might adversely affect the sovereignty, security or public order of the requested Member State or breach national security rules; or judicial proceedings have already been initiated in respect of the same actions and against the same statutory auditors or audit firms before the authorities of the requested Member State; or final judgment has already been passed in respect of the same actions and on the same statutory auditors or audit firms by the competent authorities of the requested Member State. Without prejudice to the obligations to which they are subject in judicial proceedings, competent authorities which receive information pursuant to paragraph 1 may use it only for the exercise of their functions within the scope of this Directive and in the context of administrative or judicial proceedings specifically related to the exercise of those functions.

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Source: EUR-Lex (Cellar) · retrieved 2026-10-10 · Text as adopted (Official Journal); later amendments are not incorporated in this text.