Following the end of the transition period on 31 December 2020, the UK is now a third country under statutory audit legislation. UK registered auditors who wish to audit entities incorporated in the Republic of Ireland (ROI) will now need to register as third country auditors under the process set out in ROI law. To facilitate this, IAASA has agreed a Memorandum of Understanding on Reciprocal Arrangements (MOURA) with the FRC, the UK competent authority. This MOURA will facilitate recognised accountancy bodies’ (RABs) ability to register UK statutory auditors as ROI statutory auditors by meeting the requirement in Irish law that a third country auditor cannot be approved as a ROI statutory auditor unless reciprocal arrangements with that third country are in place. RABs must also satisfy themselves that each individual meets the other requirements for approval as set out in law.
The Companies Act 2014 in the ROI requires that a third county auditor may be approved as a statutory auditor if:
- He or she passes an aptitude test on subjects relevant to statutory audit in the ROI, or can demonstrate sufficient knowledge of the same;
- He or she holds an appropriate qualification;
- He or she is of good repute; and
- Reciprocal arrangements with the third country are in place which enable an Irish statutory auditor to carry out audits in that third country on fulfilment of requirements that are no more onerous than the requirements for the approval of third country auditors in Ireland.