The Financial Supervisory Authority of Norway has decided to withdraw the personal approval of a state-authorised auditor, citing gross violations of the rules governing audit practice and quality management in both the running of the audit firm and the execution of audit engagements. The decision is based in part on findings that the auditor failed to obtain sufficient and appropriate audit evidence for multiple balance sheet and income statement items reviewed by the supervisor. The inspection covered six audit engagements where the auditor was engagement partner and found pervasive weaknesses in planning, risk assessment and documentation, including non-compliant sampling and analytical procedures, inadequate fraud risk work, and deficient going concern assessments. The supervisor also identified serious failures in firm governance and quality management, including lack of adequate administrative and accounting routines, late statutory reporting and tax and VAT compliance breaches, weak monitoring and remediation controls, and capacity shortcomings that contributed to missed client deadlines. The report further notes that the auditor knowingly provided inaccurate information to the supervisor in the firm’s self-reporting. Finanstilsynet concluded that the pattern and duration of the breaches made the auditor unfit to hold approval and that revocation was necessary and proportionate, rejecting the idea of a time-limited withdrawal. The case also references shortcomings identified in a prior 2023 inspection, including deficiencies in engagement acceptance assessments.
Norwegian Finanstilsynet 2025-10-22
Financial Supervisory Authority of Norway revokes a state-authorised auditor’s approval after finding gross breaches of audit quality and firm governance requirements
Norway's Financial Supervisory Authority has revoked a state-authorised auditor's approval due to gross violations in audit practice and quality management. The decision follows findings of insufficient audit evidence, pervasive weaknesses in planning and documentation, and serious governance failures, including inaccurate self-reporting. The authority deemed the breaches severe enough to warrant permanent revocation, citing a pattern of misconduct.