Fourth Council Directive of 25 July 1978 based on Article 54 (3) (g) of the Treaty on the annual accounts of certain types of companies (78/660/EEC) (repealed)

SECTION 11 U.K. Auditing

Article 51 U.K.

[F1 1. The annual accounts of companies shall be audited by one or more persons approved by Member States to carry out statutory audits on the basis of the Eighth Council Directive 84/253/EEC of 10 April 1984 on the approval of persons responsible for carrying out the statutory audits of accounting documents (1) .

The statutory auditors shall also express an opinion concerning the consistency or otherwise of the annual report with the annual accounts for the same financial year.]

2. The Member States may relieve the companies referred to in Article 11 from the obligation imposed by paragraph 1.

Article 12 shall apply.

3. Where the exemption provided for in paragraph 2 is granted the Member States shall introduce appropriate sanctions into their laws for cases in which the annual accounts or the annual reports of such companies are not drawn up in accordance with the requirements of this Directive.

Textual Amendments

F1 Substituted by Directive 2003/51/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 June 2003 amending Directives 78/660/EEC, 83/349/EEC, 86/635/EEC and 91/674/EEC on the annual and consolidated accounts of certain types of companies, banks and other financial institutions and insurance undertakings (Text with EEA relevance).

[F2 Article 51a U.K.

1. The report of the statutory auditors shall include:

(a) an introduction which shall at least identify the annual accounts that are the subject of the statutory audit, together with the financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation;

(b) a description of the scope of the statutory audit which shall at least identify the auditing standards in accordance with which the statutory audit was conducted;

(c) an audit opinion which shall state clearly the opinion of the statutory auditors as to whether the annual accounts give a true and fair view in accordance with the relevant financial reporting framework and, where appropriate, whether the annual accounts comply with statutory requirements; the audit opinion shall be either unqualified, qualified, an adverse opinion or, if the statutory auditors are unable to express an audit opinion, a disclaimer of opinion;

(d) a reference to any matters to which the statutory auditors draw attention by way of emphasis without qualifying the audit opinion;

(e) an opinion concerning the consistency or otherwise of the annual report with the annual accounts for the same financial year.

2. The report shall be signed and dated by the statutory auditors.]

Textual Amendments

F2 Inserted by Directive 2003/51/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 June 2003 amending Directives 78/660/EEC, 83/349/EEC, 86/635/EEC and 91/674/EEC on the annual and consolidated accounts of certain types of companies, banks and other financial institutions and insurance undertakings (Text with EEA relevance).

(1)

[F1 OJ L 126, 12.5.1984, p. 20 .]

Textual Amendments

F1 Substituted by Directive 2003/51/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 June 2003 amending Directives 78/660/EEC, 83/349/EEC, 86/635/EEC and 91/674/EEC on the annual and consolidated accounts of certain types of companies, banks and other financial institutions and insurance undertakings (Text with EEA relevance).