Third-country audit firms
When an audit firm from a ‘third country’ (a country outside of the European Economic Area (EEA)) wishes to issue auditor’s reports on the financial statements of a company incorporated in the Netherlands that are of importance to the Dutch capital market, it must be registered with the AFM. This requirement also applies to Dutch audit firms that wish to audit the (consolidated) financial statements of a company incorporated in a ‘third country’ whose transferable securities are admitted to trading on a regulated market in the Netherlands.
Applying for registration
You can apply for the registration by submitting the registration application form and notifying us of your firm’s policymakers and co-policymakers.
You must complete the application form (H) and the relevant annexes (H annexes) in full, sign the form and send the form and annexes to wta@afm.nl.
In addition, you must complete the prospective appointment notification form to notify us of the policymakers or co-policymakers at your firm, where applicable. In addition, any policymaker or co-policymaker who has already been appointed or whom you wish to appoint must complete the Integrity test form as part of their suitability assessment. The forms must be completed in full, signed and sent to wta@afm.nl.
Fees
When you submit a registration application, we will charge one-off fees. Once your firm has been registered, you will pay an annual levy that serves as a contribution to our supervision costs.
Information in our public register
Once you have submitted your application, your firm’s details will be included in the AFM’s Third-Country Audit Entities Register. The information on your firm included in this public register consists of the details you provided to us.
Notify of us of changes in your firms’ details
If there are any changes in your firm’s details as shown in our public register, please notify us immediately. In the case of other changes in the details you provided to us in your application, you must notify us of these within three months.
If your firm has a full registration, you must use form U1 to notify us of changes. Please note that you should also submit the annexes. The forms must be completed in full, signed and sent to wta@afm.nl.