Companies Act 2014 section 1520

Rules of confidentiality in relation to entities in third countries

Section 1520 sets out the rules governing when statutory auditors or audit firms may share confidential audit documentation with group auditors or competent authorities located in countries outside the EU (referred to as "third countries").

• Confidentiality rules do not prevent auditors from transferring relevant audit documentation to a group auditor in a third country, where that documentation is needed to complete the audit of the holding company's consolidated financial statements.
• Where an audited entity has issued securities in a third country or belongs to a group issuing consolidated financial statements there, audit working papers may only be transferred to the competent authorities in those third countries under the specific conditions set out in Chapter 19 of the Act.
• All transfers of information to a group auditor in a third country must comply with Irish and EU data protection legislation, including the Data Protection Acts 1988 to 2018 and the General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679.
• The section draws a distinction between transfers to a group auditor (permitted where necessary for consolidated audit purposes) and transfers to third-country competent authorities (permitted only under the stricter conditions of Chapter 19).

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