Auditor Oversight Commission

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The Auditor Oversight Commission (AOC), international and Auditor Oversight Commission (AOC), was appointed in January 2005 committee, based in Berlin , which consists of ten Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology was appointed experts in the fields of accounting, finance, economics, science and jurisprudence . The object of the AOC to provide a public professional oversight of the Chamber of Auditors to lead (WPK). The AOC was part of the implementation of the Auditor Oversight Reform Act  resolved (APAReG) June 17 2016th The tasks of the APAK are assumed by the independent and independent auditor  oversight body (APAS), which was set up at the Federal Office of Economics and Export Control (BAFA). 

Background of the facility

The legal basis for the establishment of the APAK was the Auditor Oversight Act (APAG) from 2004. The innovations introduced with the APAG were part of the implementation of the catalog of measures of the then German federal government under Gerhard Schröder to strengthen corporate integrity and investor protection from 2003 For some of the so-called accounting scandals that occurred around the turn of the millennium, the supervision of the auditing profession should be reorganized. In addition to the aim of regaining lost trust in the work of the auditors, the amendment should also promote international recognition of the German supervisory system. The legislature was of the opinion that these goals can best be achieved by removing ultimate responsibility from the profession in various areas and transferring this to a committee made up exclusively of persons from outside the profession.

Area of ​​responsibility

According to Section 66a, Paragraph 1, Clause 1 of the Wirtschaftsprüferordnung (WPO), the APAK had the task of conducting a public, specialist supervision of the WPK and, in this respect, of all auditors in Germany. The APAK's supervisory mandate therefore related to those tasks of the WPK which it performs towards auditors. Statutory auditors are auditors and sworn accountants who carry out statutory audits .

The APAK supervised the following areas of activity of the WPK:

  • Professional examination and aptitude test: The WPK conducts the auditing examination and decides on the admission of persons as auditors who have acquired a comparable qualification in another member state of the European Union (EU) or the European Economic Area (EEA) (aptitude test).
  • Appointment, revocation, recognition and registration: The WPK appoints applicants after successfully completing the auditing examination as auditor, revokes this registration in the presence of certain facts, recognizes auditing companies and enters them in the professional register (registration).
  • For this purpose, it regularly carries out special investigations (inspections) for the auditors of companies of public interest.
  • Professional supervision: The WPK monitors compliance with professional duties by its members.
  • External quality control : The WPK operates a system for external monitoring of the adequacy and effectiveness of internal quality assurance systems in auditing practices.
  • Issuance of professional practice regulations: The WPK issues binding rules for its members on professional practice, e.g. B. the professional charter for auditors / sworn accountants or the charter for quality control.

The supervision of the APAK was described as public because its members are exclusively non-professional persons, i.e. not auditors or sworn accountants. Her activity was subject-related because she not only monitored compliance with legal provisions by the WPK (this would then be legal supervision, which in this case is the responsibility of the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology ), but could also decide on specific individual cases in the above-mentioned supervisory areas .

Members

The composition of the APAK was regulated in Section 66a (2) WPO. Accordingly, it had to have at least six, but no more than ten honorary members. On the one hand, they had to be non-professional, but on the other hand they should be recognized experts from the fields of accounting, finance, economics, science or law. This regulation should ensure the necessary expertise of the Commission. The commission members were appointed by the Federal Minister of Economics for a term of four years and were independent and not bound by any instructions from third parties.

The following people belonged to the APAK (as of May 2015):

The chairpersons of the APAK from its establishment in March 2005 until its dissolution in June 2016 were:

Competencies

In order to be able to fulfill its monitoring task, the APAK was granted a number of competencies by the legislator in § 66a Paragraph 3–5 WPO. The members of the APAK had information and inspection rights vis-à-vis the WPK. They were allowed to participate in their meetings and request information and inspection of documents. In addition, the WPK had to report to the APAK on its own accord on events relevant to supervision. A process was relevant for supervision if it fell within the supervision area of ​​the APAK and after final processing by the WPK an order with immediate legal effect was to be issued to the outside world.

If the APAK did not agree with the handling of a situation by the WPK, it could order a second examination. The WPK then had the opportunity to reconsider its original preliminary decision and to take into account the objections of the APAK. If the WPK sticks to its differing opinion and the APAK cannot convey this convincingly either, the APAK can make a so-called final decision. She then ordered that the WPK correct its decision and implement it in its own name. Should the WPK have any doubts about the legality of the APAK's decision, it could turn to the Federal Ministry of Economics with a request for a review.

financing

The costs incurred through the activities of the APAK were covered by the budget of the WPK, which was mainly fed from the compulsory contributions of the professional members. With this indirect financing model, the legislature wanted to prevent the professions from exerting influence and thus jeopardizing the APAK's credibility.

For 2015, the APAK's business plan provided for total expenditures of € 1,860,000. Of this, € 130,000 was accounted for by the annual flat-rate allowance for expenses of the APAK members and € 565,000 in the reimbursement of expenses for participation in the various meetings by the APAK members.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ New challenges in the supervision of auditors, Bundestag resolves largest supervisory reform in decades. Wirtschaftsprüferkammer (WPK), December 4, 2015, accessed on August 25, 2017 .
  2. ↑ BAFA - Auditor Oversight Body. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on August 25, 2017 ; Retrieved August 25, 2017 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.bafa.de
  3. ^ Members of the APAK. ( Memento of the original from May 30, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved May 30, 2015 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.apak-aoc.de
  4. ↑ Volker Röhricht becomes an honorary member of the IDW. Retrieved July 19, 2019 .
  5. ↑ Wayback Machine. September 4, 2011, accessed July 19, 2019 .
  6. ↑ Wayback Machine. September 13, 2016, accessed July 19, 2019 .
  7. ↑ Economic Plan 2015. ( Memento of the original from May 30, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved May 30, 2015 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.apak-aoc.de

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