Licence for statutory audits by audit firms
Does your audit firm carry out statutory audits, such as auditing the financial statements of a public limied company (NV), or a public interest entity (PIE)? If so, you require a Wta licence under the Audit Firms Supervision Act (Wet toezicht accountantsorganisaties, Wta).
Applying for a Wta licence
Do you want to apply for a Wta licence? First check the application information from the Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets (Autoriteit Financiële Markten, AFM). After that, you can start the application procedure. You can submit your application online via the AFM portal or via Message Box.
There are different Wta licences, depending on the type of businesses you audit. With your application, you need to submit, among others, a description of your firm’s organisational structure and an extract of your firm’s registration in the business register. And you need to submit an overview of the permanent education credits of each policymaker in your firm.
Once you have obtained a licence and completed your first statutory audit, you must notify the AFM. You can doe this by email to wta@afm.nl.
If you want to change or withdraw your licence, you must notify the AFM.
Requirements for your staff
Your audit firm must comply with various professional and training requirements. Your employees must be trustworthy, expert, and adequately trained, for example. They are obliged to respect confidentiality and update their knowledge through permanent education. You must safeguard your firm’s independence.
The AFM assesses the trustworthiness of (co-)policymakers within the accountancy firm with a trustworthiness test.
Duty of care with regard to external auditors
If you have a Wta licence you also have a duty of care. This means that you must make sure that any external auditor affiliated with your firm meets the professional and training requirements.
Register of audit firms
Every Wta licenced firm is automatically included in the register of audit firms and is allowed to carry out statutory audits a public interest entities. Are you looking for a licenced audit firm to audit your company? You can consult the register with AFM.
Foreign audit firms
If you are a foreign audit firm and wish to conduct statutory audits in the Netherlands, you must have the AFM’s Wta licence. In order to be admitted to the register of audit firms you need to comply with professional and training requirements equivalent to those in the Netherlands. You must carry out the statutory audits in accordance with international auditing standards.
Online application procedure via Message Box
You can submit your Wta licence application also via Message Box. Message Box is a secure email system that enables you as an entrepreneur to exchange digital messages with Dutch government agencies. AFM’s Message Box can be found under the name 'Stichting Autoriteit Financiële Markten'.