The Dutch Authority for the Financial Markets reported that the Accountants Chamber upheld in full its disciplinary complaint against the auditor of a scrap and gold trader, citing serious shortcomings in the auditor’s identification and assessment of fraud risks and a lack of professional scepticism related to gold trading. In the audit of the 2020 financial statements, the auditor issued a disclaimer of opinion but, according to the decision, reached that position too quickly and performed insufficient work to identify and assess risks of material misstatement due to fraud. The auditor did not adequately distinguish the nature of gold trading from metals trading and, as a result, did not design and perform sufficient audit procedures to obtain sufficient and appropriate evidence on the occurrence of revenue from gold sales. The Accountants Chamber ordered the auditor’s removal from the registers, with the possibility to seek re-registration after six months, during which the auditor may not practise. Both the AFM and the auditor may appeal the ruling.
Dutch Authority for the Financial Markets 2026-03-27
Dutch Authority for the Financial Markets wins disciplinary case and secures auditor deregistration over scrap and gold trader audit
The Dutch Authority for the Financial Markets reported that the Accountants Chamber fully upheld its disciplinary complaint against the auditor of a scrap and gold trader, citing serious deficiencies in fraud risk assessment and a lack of professional scepticism. The Chamber found the auditor issued a disclaimer of opinion on the 2020 financial statements too quickly, failed to perform sufficient procedures on revenue from gold sales, and ordered the auditor’s removal from the registers with the option to seek re-registration after six months.