Housing and Regeneration Act 2008

131 Exempt companies: reporting accountant

(1) A person is eligible for appointment by a company as a reporting accountant under section 130 if—

(a) either of the following conditions is satisfied, and

(b) the person would not be prohibited from acting as auditor of the company by virtue of section 1214 of the Companies Act 2006 (c. 46).

(2) Condition 1 is satisfied if the person is a member of a body listed in subsection (4) and under its rules—

(a) the person is entitled to engage in public practice, and

(b) is not ineligible for appointment as a reporting accountant.

(3) Condition 2 is satisfied if the person—

(a) is subject to the rules of a body listed in subsection (4) in seeking appointment or acting as a statutory auditor under Part 42 of the Companies Act 2006, and

(b) under those rules, is eligible for appointment as a statutory auditor under that Part.

(4) The bodies mentioned in subsections (2) and (3) are—

(a) the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales,

(b) the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland,

(c) the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland,

(d) the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants,

(e) the Association of Authorised Public Accountants,

(f) the Association of Accounting Technicians,

(g) the Association of International Accountants,

(h) the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, and

(i) the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators.

(5) The Secretary of State may by order amend the list of bodies in subsection (4).

(6) References in this section to the rules of a body are to rules (whether or not laid down by the body itself) which the body has power to enforce and which are relevant for the purposes of Part 42 of the Companies Act 2006 (statutory auditors) or this section; and this includes rules relating to the admission and expulsion of members of the body so far as relevant for the purposes of that Part or this section.

(7) An individual or a firm may be appointed as a reporting accountant; and section 1216 of the Companies Act 2006 applies to the appointment of a partnership constituted under the law of—

(a) England and Wales,

(b) Northern Ireland, or

(c) any other country or territory in which a partnership is not a legal person.