Companies Act 2014 section 1531

Record keeping

Section 1531 sets out the minimum record-keeping periods that statutory auditors and audit firms must observe for documents and information required under EU Regulation 537/2014.

• Statutory auditors and audit firms must retain all documents and information specified in Article 15 of Regulation (EU) No 537/2014 for at least six years.
• If a transaction, act or operation becomes the subject of an investigation, inquiry, claim, assessment, appeal or proceeding during that six-year period, the relevant records must be kept until that process concludes.
• Where such a process extends beyond the initial six-year retention period, the records must be held for the full duration of the process.
• The overriding principle is that whichever period is longer — six years or the duration of the ongoing process — determines how long records must be retained.