Europe: Commission publishes green paper on audit policy

The European Commission has published a green paper titled Audit Policy - Lessons from the Crisis: see here (pdf). Accompanying the green paper is a press release and a list of frequently asked questions: see, respectively, here and here.

The green paper is wide-ranging in scope and seeks views on, amongst other things, the role of the auditor and the audit; whether the International Standards on Auditing should be binding throughout the EU; the provision by auditors of non-audit services to audit clients and whether this should be prohibited; and measures to reduce concentration in the audit market including, for example, the mandatory formation of an audit firm consortium with the inclusion of at least one smaller, non systemic audit firm.