CHAPTER I

Competent authorities responsible for carrying out the tasks provided for in this Regulation and for ensuring that the provisions of this Regulation are applied shall be designated from amongst the following: the competent authority referred to in Article 24(1) of Directive 2004/109/EC; the competent authority referred to in point (h) of Article 24(4) of Directive 2004/109/EC; the competent authority referred to in Article 32 of Directive 2006/43/EC. By way of derogation from paragraph 1, Member States may decide that the responsibility for ensuring that all or part of the provisions of Title III of this Regulation are applied is to be entrusted to, as appropriate, the competent authorities referred to in: Article 48 of Directive 2004/39/EC; Article 24(1) of Directive 2004/109/EC; point (h) of Article 24(4) of Directive 2004/109/EC; Article 20 of Directive 2007/64/EC; Article 30 of Directive 2009/138/EC; Article 4(1) of Directive 2013/36/EU; or to other authorities designated by national law. Where more than one competent authority has been designated pursuant to paragraphs 1 and 2, those authorities shall be organised in such a manner that their tasks are clearly allocated. Paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 shall be without prejudice to the right of a Member State to make separate legal and administrative arrangements for overseas countries and territories with which that Member State has special relations. The Member States shall inform the Commission of the designation of competent authorities for the purposes of this Regulation. The Commission shall consolidate this information and make it public. The competent authorities shall be independent of statutory auditors and audit firms. The competent authorities may consult experts, as referred to in point (c) of Article 26(1), for the purpose of carrying out specific tasks and may also be assisted by experts when this is essential for the proper fulfilment of their tasks. In such instances, the experts shall not be involved in any decision-making. A person shall not be a member of the governing body, or responsible for the decision–making, of those authorities if during his or her involvement or in the course of the three previous years that person: has carried out statutory audits; held voting rights in an audit firm; was member of the administrative, management or supervisory body of an audit firm; was a partner, employee of, or otherwise contracted by, an audit firm. The funding of those authorities shall be secure and free from undue influence by statutory auditors and audit firms. The obligation of professional secrecy shall apply to all persons who are or have been employed or independently contracted by, or involved in the governance of, competent authorities or by any authority or body to which tasks have been delegated under Article 24 of this Regulation. Information covered by professional secrecy may not be disclosed to any other person or authority except by virtue of the obligations laid down in this Regulation or the laws, regulations or administrative procedures of a Member State. Without prejudice to Article 26, in carrying out their tasks under this Regulation, the competent authorities or any other public authorities of a Member State may not interfere with the content of audit reports. Member States shall ensure that the competent authorities have all the supervisory and investigatory powers that are necessary for the exercise of their functions under this Regulation in accordance with the provisions of Chapter VII of Directive 2006/43/EC. The powers referred to in paragraph 2 of this Article shall include, at least, the power to: access data related to the statutory audit or other documents held by statutory auditors or audit firms in any form relevant to the carrying out of their tasks and to receive or take a copy thereof; obtain information related to the statutory audit from any person; carry out on-site inspections of statutory auditors or audit firms; refer matters for criminal prosecution; request experts to carry out verifications or investigations; take the administrative measures, and impose the sanctions referred to in Article 30a of Directive 2006/43/EC. The competent authorities may use the powers referred to in the first subparagraph only in relation to: statutory auditors and audit firms carrying out statutory audit of public-interest entities; persons involved in the activities of statutory auditors and audit firms carrying out statutory audit of public-interest entities; audited public-interest entities, their affiliates and related third parties; third parties to whom the statutory auditors and the audit firms carrying out statutory audit of public-interest entities have outsourced certain functions or activities; and persons otherwise related or connected to statutory auditors and audit firms carrying out statutory audit of public-interest entities. Member States shall ensure that the competent authorities are allowed to exercise their supervisory and investigatory powers in any of the following ways: directly; in collaboration with other authorities; by application to the competent judicial authorities. The supervisory and investigatory powers of competent authorities shall be exercised in full compliance with national law, and in particular, with the principles of respect for private life and the right of defence. The processing of personal data processed in the exercise of the supervisory and investigatory powers pursuant to this Article shall be carried out in accordance with Directive 95/46/EC. Member States may delegate or allow the competent authorities referred to in Article 20(1) to delegate any of the tasks required to be undertaken pursuant to this Regulation to other authorities or bodies designated or otherwise authorised by law to carry out such tasks, except for tasks related to: the quality assurance system referred to in Article 26; investigations referred to in Article 23 of this Regulation and Article 32 of Directive 2006/43/EC arising from that quality assurance system or from a referral by another authority; and sanctions and measures as referred to in Chapter VII of Directive 2006/43/EC related to the quality assurance reviews or investigation of statutory audits of public-interest entities. Any execution of tasks by other authorities or bodies shall be the subject of an express delegation by the competent authority. The delegation shall specify the delegated tasks and the conditions under which they are to be carried out. Where the competent authority delegates tasks to other authorities or bodies, it shall be able to reclaim these competences on a case-by-case basis. The authorities or bodies shall be organised in such a manner that there are no conflicts of interest. The ultimate responsibility for supervising compliance with this Regulation and with the implementing measures adopted pursuant thereto shall lie with the delegating competent authority. The competent authority shall inform the Commission and the competent authorities of Member States of any arrangement entered into with regard to the delegation of tasks, including the precise conditions governing such delegation. By way of derogation from paragraph 1, Member States may decide to delegate the tasks referred to in point (c) of paragraph 1 to other authorities or bodies designated or otherwise authorised by law to carry out such tasks, when the majority of the persons involved in the governance of the authority or body concerned is independent from the audit profession. Competent authorities designated pursuant to Article 20(1) and, where appropriate, any authority to whom such a competent authority has delegated tasks shall cooperate at national level with: the competent authorities referred to in Article 32(4) of Directive 2006/43/EC; the authorities referred to in Article 20(2), whether or not they have been designated competent authorities for the purposes of this Regulation; the financial intelligence units and the competent authorities referred to in Articles 21 and 37 of Directive 2005/60/EC. For the purposes of such cooperation, the obligation of professional secrecy under Article 22 of this Regulation shall apply.

← TITLE IV · All articles · Article 20 →

Source: EUR-Lex (Cellar) · retrieved 2026-10-12 · Text as adopted (Official Journal); later amendments are not incorporated in this text.