Federal Council brings bundling of audit firm supervision into force as at 1 January 2015

Bern, 05.11.2014 - At its meeting today, the Federal Council brought the bill approved by parliament in the 2014 summer session on the bundling of audit firm supervision and the revision of the Financial Market Audit Act and the Auditor Oversight Ordinance into force as at 1 January 2015.

The referendum deadline for the amendment of the Auditor Oversight Act (AOA), the Financial Market Supervision Act (FINMASA) and various financial market laws expired unused on 9 October 2014. Today, the Federal Council adopted the amendment of the Financial Market Auditing Ordinance (FMAO-FINMA), the Auditor Oversight Ordinance (AOO) and other ordinances which implement the bill. All of the pieces of legislation will enter into force on 1 January 2015. The concerns put forward within the scope of the hearing were taken into account, in particular regarding the provisions on auditing principles, the conditions for authorisation and transitional arrangements.

After the bundling of audit firm supervision under the Federal Audit Oversight Authority (FAOA), this body will be solely responsible for the authorisation and supervision of audit firms in the areas of financial audits and regulatory audits. Audit content and principles for regulatory audits will continue to be laid down by FINMA, whereas the FAOA will be responsible for the recognition of standards for financial audits.

Address for enquiries

FINMASA and FMAO-FINMA:
Roland Meier, Media Spokesperson FDF
Tel. 058 462 60 86, roland.meier@gs-efd.admin.ch

AOA and AOO:
Frank Schneider, Director of the Federal Audit Oversight Authority FAOA
Tel. 031 560 22 10, frank.schneider@rab-asr.ch