Transfer of an audit firm to another legal entity
If there is a change to your audit firm’s legal structure, this has consequences for its licence. If the currently licensed legal entity ceases to exist, its licence will terminate. However, under certain conditions, the licence may transfer to a successor entity by operation of law. You cannot arrange for the current licence to be transferred to a different legal entity.
Notify us as soon as possible in case of a possible transfer to another legal entity
If there will be a change to your audit firm’s legal structure, you should notify the AFM as soon as possible. This is because it is not always immediately clear if such as change to an audit firm’s legal structure qualifies as a transfer of the firm to another legal entity, and if so, if the firm’s organisational structure, working methods and activities will remain unchanged. This differs per situation and depends, among other things, on the firm’s organisational structure, working methods and activities.
If a new licence is required for the new legal entity, you must apply for this licence before your firm is transferred to the new legal entity. This way, you prevent a situation where the new legal entity is not allowed to perform statutory audits because it does not yet have a licence.