Balance sheet oath
The balance sheet oath is a declaration by the legal representatives of certain companies, which is intended to make them more aware of the legally compliant preparation of financial statements and management reports (appeal and warning function). Furthermore, this should also express the responsibility of the representatives to the outside world (assurance function). The balance sheet oath was introduced with the aim of strengthening confidence in the capital market. It was enshrined in law in the Transparency Directive Implementation Act of January 5, 2007.
Content and scope
The balance sheet oath is the written assurance of the legal representatives of a corporation , the domestic issuer within the meaning of Section 2 (14) of the Securities Trading Act and not a corporation within the meaning of Section 327a HGB, in writing when the annual financial statements are signed, that the annual financial statements and the management report are to the best of their knowledge Compliance with the principles of proper bookkeeping gives a true and fair view of the asset, financial and earnings position of the corporation or provides information in the appendix for circumstances that justify a discrepancy and that in the management report the course of business including the business results and the position of the corporation are presented in such a way that a picture that corresponds to the actual circumstances is conveyed and that the essential opportunities and risks are described ( Section 264 (2) sentence 3 HGB, Section 289 (1) sentence 5 HGB).
The same applies to the consolidated financial statements and management report ( Section 297 (2) sentence 4 HGB, Section 315 (1) sentence 6 HGB).
An annual financial report (consolidated and individual financial statements and management report for capital market-oriented companies) and a half-yearly financial report must also contain an oath of balance sheet ( Section 114 (2) No. 3 WpHG and Section 115 (2) No. 3 WpHG).
formulation
The DRSC has issued corresponding sample formulations for Germany and the AFRAC for Austria.
signing
The balance sheet oath must be given by all legal representatives, even if they are not directly entrusted with the preparation of the financial statements. Therefore, the wording in the balance sheet oath to the best of our knowledge takes into account the different levels of knowledge of the individual representatives.
liability
An additional liability is generally to be denied, as the board members are anyway liable for the correctness of the financial statements due to company law standards.
Comparison with regulations according to IFRS
The declaration of conformity according to IAS 1 .16 is similar to the balance sheet oath. In particular, there are differences in the scope of the declaration (in the case of IFRS: no inclusion of the management report) and in the person of the declaring party (in the case of IFRS: the company). Therefore, both declarations have to be made if there is a corresponding obligation.
