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Report to supervisors of public-interest entities

1. Without prejudice to Article 55 of Directive 2004/39/EC, Article 63 of Directive 2013/36/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council (), Article 15(4) of Directive 2007/64/EC, Article 106 of Directive 2009/65/EC, Article 3(1) of Directive 2009/110/EC and Article 72 of Directive 2009/138/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (), the statutory auditor or the audit firm carrying out the statutory audit of a public-interest entity shall have a duty to report promptly to the competent authorities supervising that public-interest entity or, where so determined by the Member State concerned, to the competent authority responsible for the oversight of the statutory auditor or audit firm, any information concerning that public-interest entity of which he, she or it has become aware while carrying out that statutory audit and which may bring about any of the following:

(a) a material breach of the laws, regulations or administrative provisions which lay down, where appropriate, the conditions governing authorisation or which specifically govern pursuit of the activities of such public-interest entity;

(b) a material threat or doubt concerning the continuous functioning of the public-interest entity;

(c) a refusal to issue an audit opinion on the financial statements or the issuing of an adverse or qualified opinion.

Statutory auditors or audit firms shall also have a duty to report any information referred to in points (a) (b) or (c) of the first subparagraph of which they become aware in the course of carrying out the statutory audit of an undertaking having close links with the public-interest entity for which they are also carrying out the statutory audit. For the purposes of this Article, ‘close links’ shall have the meaning assigned to that term in point (38) of Article 4(1) of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council (). Member States may require additional information from the statutory auditor or the audit firm provided it is necessary for effective financial market supervision as provided for in national law.

2. An effective dialogue shall be established between the competent authorities supervising credit institutions and insurance undertakings, on the one hand, and the statutory auditor(s) and the audit firm(s) carrying out the statutory audit of those institutions and undertakings, on the other hand. The responsibility for compliance with this requirement shall rest with both parties to the dialogue.

At least once a year, the European Systemic Risk Board (ESRB) and the CEAOB shall organise a meeting with the statutory auditors and the audit firms or networks carrying out statutory audits of all global systemically important financial institutions authorised within the Union, as identified internationally, in order to inform the ESRB of sectoral or any significant developments in those systemically important financial institutions. In order to facilitate the exercise of the tasks referred to in the first subparagraph, the European Supervisory Authority (European Banking Authority — EBA) and the European Supervisory Authority (European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority — EIOPA) shall, taking current supervisory practices into account, issue guidelines addressed to the competent authorities supervising credit institutions and insurance undertakings, in accordance with Article 16 of Regulation (EU) No 1093/2010 of the European Parliament and of the Council () and Article 16 of Regulation (EU) No 1094/2010 of the European Parliament and of the Council (), respectively.

3. The disclosure in good faith to the competent authorities or to ESRB and the CEAOB, by the statutory auditor or the audit firm or network, where applicable, of any information referred to in paragraph 1 or of any information emerging during the dialogue provided for in paragraph 2 shall not constitute a breach of any contractual or legal restriction on disclosure of information.