Companies Act 2014 section 1471

Transitional provisions applicable to certain deemed approvals under Regulation 44 of 2016 Audits Regulations

Section 1471 ensures that statutory auditors and statutory audit firms who held deemed approvals under the 2016 Audits Regulations continue to be treated as approved under Part 27 of the Companies Act 2014, subject to certain grounds for withdrawal.

• Individual statutory auditors whose approvals were deemed to continue under Regulation 44(1) of the 2016 Audits Regulations retain their approved status under Part 27 of the Companies Act 2014.
• Statutory audit firms whose approvals were deemed to continue under Regulation 44(2) of the 2016 Audits Regulations likewise retain their approved status under Part 27.
• These continued approvals are subject to mandatory withdrawal provisions — section 1479 for individual auditors and section 1480 for audit firms — as well as savings provisions for ongoing disciplinary proceedings under sections 1582 and 1583.
• The approvals must have been in force immediately before the commencement of section 3(6) of the Companies (Statutory Audits) Act 2018 in order to benefit from this transitional continuity.