Companies Act 2014 section 1574

Exemption from quality assurance

Section 1574 allows the Supervisory Authority to exempt registered third-country auditors and audit entities from Irish quality assurance requirements where an equivalent review has already been carried out elsewhere.

• A third-country auditor or audit entity registered under section 1573 may apply for an exemption from the quality assurance obligations in Chapter 7.
• The exemption is available where a quality assurance review has been carried out on the auditor or audit entity within the three years before the application is made, under another Member State's or third country's system.
• Two conditions must be satisfied: the Supervisory Authority must be content that the review was properly carried out, and the quality assurance system under which it was conducted must have been assessed as equivalent under section 1580.
• Where both conditions are met, the Supervisory Authority is obliged to grant the exemption, and the auditor or audit entity is relieved of the Chapter 7 quality assurance obligations.