Norway's Financial Supervisory Authority publishes inspection findings on Lier Regnskap AS and expects immediate remediation of reconciliation and AML control weaknesses

Norway's Financial Supervisory Authority has issued an inspection report following an on-site review of authorised accounting firm Lier Regnskap AS, covering its organisation, procedures and internal control under the Accounting Service Providers Act, including generally accepted accounting practice. The supervisor found that the firm has implemented key routines broadly aligned with legal requirements and that most shortcomings previously identified through Regnskap Norge quality controls have been remedied, but it expects remaining deficiencies to be corrected immediately. The inspection was triggered by a referral from Regnskap Norge following its quality controls. Finanstilsynet nonetheless identified weaknesses in the firm’s documentation discipline and quality management, including inconsistent completion of standard templates and insufficient documentation of the annual overarching quality control. A file review of five engagements (mainly for financial year 2023) found issues such as an unsigned and outdated engagement agreement, gaps in anti-money laundering documentation (including missing evidence of politically exposed person screening and unclear documentation of risk classification), and a lack of written communication to clients where share capital or equity had been lost. Year-end reconciliations and reconciliation documentation were also assessed as inadequate across the reviewed engagements, with between 19% and 44% of balance sheet accounts in the sampled files judged not to be sufficiently documented. In its response to the preliminary report, the firm confirmed that it has initiated measures to address the deficiencies identified during the inspection, which Finanstilsynet noted, while reiterating its expectation that the issues are rectified without delay.