Companies Act 2014 section 1517

Rules of confidentiality to apply

Section 1517 requires statutory auditors and audit firms to observe the confidentiality and secrecy rules of their recognised accountancy body in respect of all information and documents accessed during a statutory audit.

• Information and documents accessed during a statutory audit are subject to the confidentiality and secrecy rules of the auditor's or firm's recognised accountancy body.
• Statutory auditors and audit firms must comply with these confidentiality and secrecy rules.
• Where an audit firm is registered under section 1465 (firms approved in other member states), the applicable rules are those of the recognised accountancy body to which the key audit partner belongs.
• These confidentiality obligations cover both the audit firm itself and any statutory auditor acting on the firm's behalf.