French Commercial code
In forceThe work of the statutory auditor relating to the certification of the accounts of a public interest entity shall be subject to an independent review prior to the signing of the reports provided for in the last paragraph of Article L. 823-9 and in III of article L. 823-16. The purpose of the independent review is to verify that the signatory could reasonably have reached the conclusions set out in the draft reports.
The independent review is carried out by a statutory auditor registered on the list referred to in I of article L. 822-1 which does not participate in the certification engagement to which it relates.
When all of the company's statutory auditors have participated in the performance of the engagement, or when the statutory auditor practices on an individual basis, the independent review is performed by a statutory auditor from outside the practice structure.
The transmission of documents or information to the independent auditor for the purposes of this article does not constitute a breach of professional secrecy. Documents or information transmitted to the independent auditor for the purposes of this article are covered by professional secrecy.
When implementing the independent review, the independent reviewer shall record the items referred to in Article 8(4) of Regulation (EU) No 537/2014.
The independent reviewer assesses the elements mentioned in paragraph 5 of Article 8 of Regulation (EU) No 537/2014.
The auditor exchanges with the person mentioned in the first paragraph of Article L. 822-9 or with the individual statutory auditor on the conclusions of the review.
The firm of statutory auditors shall set up a procedure for settling disagreements between the independent auditor and the person referred to in the first paragraph of Article L. 822-9.
The statutory auditor or the firm of statutory auditors and the independent auditor shall record the results of the independent review and the considerations underlying those results.
