Fair competition essential for Auditors / Rödl & Partner calls for real EU Reform in the interest of family-owned enterprises

• Today Rödl & Partner represents the interests of German business in Brussels
• Paper presented for corporate governance with a European emphasis
• Against unfair competition in European auditing

Brussels/Nuremberg, 9 February, 2011: At the conference which commences today concerned with a green paper for EU auditing standards, Rödl & Partner will strongly advocate fair competition in the European auditing market. Rödl & Partner demands that the European Commission introduce structural reform to the auditing market. This process must focus on the interests of family-owned companies with international operations and seek to avoid over-regulation.
 
"As an audit firm with international operations we require the European Commission to implement the principles of the free market in the field of company auditing", emphasises the founder and senior partner of Rödl & Partner, Dr. Bernd Rödl. "The distortion of competition in the auditing market is intolerable. Therefore the Green Paper on audit policy is more than overdue. We require no additional regulations, but instead call for free competition in the interest of all European enterprises."

The key demands of Rödl & Partner include:

• Free and fair competition rules for all auditing firms in Europe
• Strengthening of the image and ethos of auditors as independent professionals
• Introduction of joint audit for public companies to strengthen the independence of auditors and improve auditing quality
• Introduction of pan-European uniform charging framework for annual audits to remove distortion to competition
• Clear backing for integrated audit and advisory services as a condition for the provision of successful support for owner-managed companies
• Broadening of audit assignment to include examination and assessment of future oriented information to improve credibility of the audit opinion
• Introduction of a "European pass for auditors" to facilitate cross-border audit operations in Europe
• Abolishment of big-four-only clauses from credit and investment agreements
• Reforms to accounting system must consider the interests of family-owned enterprises

"Rödl & Partner is the only multi-disciplinary professional services firm in the world with its headquarters in Germany. We have considerable expertise in the international requirements for the worldwide annual audits of international groups", explains Dr. Peter Bömelburg, as managing partner responsible for auditing operations of Rödl & Partner. "The general conditions for international annual audits should not be limited to Anglo-Saxon models. We need a European model of corporate governance which also considers the interests of German medium-sized companies and family-owned enterprises. The focus here should be the responsibility of the independent professional and not just anonymous checklists."

Rödl & Partner believes that the process of reforming the auditing market the European Commission must observe the interests of medium-sized companies and family-owned enterprises. They play a major role especially in the German economy and frequently run international subsidiaries without the need to orient to the capital markets.

"The interests of German family-owned enterprises are closely connected to the proven understanding of the auditor as an independent professional subject to strict ethical principles. As an independent, long-serving consultation partner of the company he is able to provide advice as an equal", notes Dr. Marcus Felsner, managing partner at Rödl & Partner. "We must not allow complacent acceptance of auditing requirements from the Anglo-Saxon world without criticism as this will lead to increased bureaucracy with auditing documentation at the cost of personal consultation. This development is not in the interests of the German economy."

The position paper from Rödl & Partner on the future of annual audits in the European Union is available at the Press Center in the  internet at www.roedl.de/pressecenter.