(Provisional Translation)
June 11, 2014
Financial Services Agency
Certified Public Accountants and Auditing Oversight Board

Mutual Reliance with Foreign Jurisdictions in the Area of Audit Oversight

The Financial Services Agency (FSA) and the Certified Public Accountants and Auditing Oversight Board (CPAAOB) published “A Framework for Inspection / Supervision of Foreign Audit Firms, etc.” on September 14, 2009, and stated that with respect to information requirements and inspections regarding foreign audit firms, the FSA and the CPAAOB will, in principle, rely on such actions by the competent authorities of the firm’s home jurisdictions, instead of seeking to obtain information from or conducting inspections on firms themselves, provided that (a) audit and public oversight systems in the firm’s home jurisdictions are equivalent to those of Japan, (b) necessary information can be provided from the foreign competent authorities through appropriate arrangements of information exchange, and (c) reciprocity is ensured.

The FSA/CPAAOB and the following authority will, in principle, mutually rely on the oversight of foreign audit firms in their home countries (the AFM is the first case to reach mutual reliance).

Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets (AFM)

(Reference)

• Equivalency Assessment on Audit and Public Oversight Systems of Foreign Jurisdictions
• Exchange of Letters on Cooperation in the Area of Audit Oversight