Companies Act 2014 section 380

Statutory auditors — general provisions (including as to the interpretation of provisions providing for auditors' term of office)

Section 380 sets out the general rules for appointing statutory auditors to a company and clarifies how the auditor's term of office should be interpreted.

• Every company must appoint one or more statutory auditors for each financial year, and the term "statutory auditors" is used throughout even where only one auditor is appointed
• Where a non-corporate firm is appointed as auditor by its firm name, the appointment is treated as an appointment of the individual partners in that firm who are qualified to act as statutory auditors
• An auditor holds office until the conclusion of the next annual general meeting unless they resign, die, are removed or terminated from office, or become disqualified under the relevant provisions
• Any contractual clause that restricts the shareholders' choice of auditor to certain categories or lists is prohibited and void