The Financial Supervisory Authority of Norway (Finanstilsynet) has published an inspection report on an audit firm, identifying multiple breaches in connection with its 2023 statutory audits, several of which were assessed as serious. Despite considering withdrawal of the responsible auditor’s state-authorised approval, Finanstilsynet concluded that approval should not be revoked, citing remediation efforts and improved work observed in the 2024 audit. The inspection, prompted by an unsatisfactory quality review by the Norwegian Institute of Public Accountants in 2024, covered the firm’s audit documentation across five selected engagements. Key findings related to deficiencies in engagement acceptance and risk assessment, and widespread weaknesses in audit documentation, including use of unmodified “standard” text that did not reflect the audited entities or the auditor’s actual work. Finanstilsynet also found that, for one engagement, the auditor improperly signed tax reporting documentation despite identifying breaches of rules on withholding tax funds and failed to communicate the breach to the company’s board and the tax authorities; the 2024 audit file showed this issue had been addressed. The audit firm has arranged for another audit firm to perform a quality control review in autumn 2025, and Finanstilsynet has requested that the resulting report be submitted once available.

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