(1) The audit of the annual financial statements is to include an audit of the bookkeeping. The scope of the audit of the annual financial statements and of the consolidated financial statements is to cover compliance with the statutory requirements, as well as the provisions complementing them that are stipulated by the articles of association or statutes. The audit is to be structured such that any instances in which the reporting is incorrect or in which the stipulations of sentence 2 are violated, such that the presentation of the share capital company’s assets, liabilities, financial position and profit or loss resulting from section 264 (2) is significantly affected, will be recognised assuming professional due diligence is applied.
(2) The management report and the consolidated management report are to be audited with a view to establishing whether the management report is consistent with the annual financial statements, as the case may be also with the standalone financial statements pursuant to section 325 (2a), and whether the consolidated management report is consistent with the consolidated financial statements, as well as with the findings made by the statutory auditor in the course of the auditor’s audit, and whether the management report accurately presents, as a whole, the position of the share capital company and whether the consolidated management report accurately presents, as a whole, the position of the group. In this context, the audit also is to address whether the opportunities and risks that may result from future developments have been presented accurately. The scope of the audit of the management report and of the consolidated management report also is to cover compliance with the statutory requirements that govern the drawing-up of management reports or of consolidated management reports. As concerns the requirements stipulated by sections 289b to 289e and sections 315b and 315c, all that is to be audited is whether the non-financial statement or the separate non-financial report, the consolidated non-financial statement or the separate consolidated non-financial report has been submitted. In the case governed by section 289b (3) sentence 1 number 2 (b), a supplementary audit is to be performed by the same statutory auditor four months after the balance sheet date in order to establish whether the separate non-financial report or the separate consolidated non-financial report has been submitted; section 316 (3) sentence 2 applies accordingly, with the proviso that the audit report is to be supplemented only if the separate non-financial report or the separate consolidated non-financial report has not been so submitted within four months of the balance sheet date. The audit of the information provided pursuant to section 289f (2) and (5) as well as section 315d is to be restricted to establishing whether this information has been provided.
(3) The statutory auditor of the consolidated financial statements also is to audit the annual financial statements combined in the consolidated financial statements, in particular the adjustments entailed by the consolidation, by way of applying subsection (1) accordingly. Where such annual financial statements have been audited by a different statutory auditor, the statutory auditor of the consolidated financial statements is to verify the work done by that other auditor and is to document this review.
(3a) In the case of a share capital company that issues securities (section 2 (1) of the Securities Trading Act as a domestic issuer (section 2 (14) of the Securities Trading Act) and that is not a share capital company within the meaning of section 327a, the statutory auditor also is to assess in the context of the audit whether the reproduction of the annual financial statements prepared for disclosure purposes and the reproduction of the management report prepared for disclosure purposes comply with the requirements of section 328 (1). In the case of a share capital company within the meaning of sentence 1, the statutory auditor of the consolidated financial statements also is to assess in the context of the audit whether the reproduction of the consolidated financial statements prepared for disclosure purposes and the reproduction of the consolidated management report prepared for disclosure purposes comply with the requirements of section 328 (1).
(3b) The statutory auditor of the annual financial statements also is to assess in the context of the audit whether the share capital company
1. was under obligation to disclose a report on income tax information in accordance with section 342m (1) or (2) for the financial year preceding that financial year as per the close of which the annual financial statements are drawn up that are to be audited and whether,
2. in the case governed by number 1, it has complied with its disclosure obligation set out therein.
(4) In the case of a stock corporation listed on the stock exchange, moreover, it is to be assessed in the context of the audit whether the board of management has taken the measures incumbent on it pursuant to section 91 (2) of the Stock Corporation Act in suitable form and whether the monitoring system to be instituted accordingly is suited to fulfil its task.
(4a) Unless provided for otherwise, the scope of the audit is not to cover an assurance as to the future viability of the share capital company so audited or as to the effectiveness or efficiency with which the management has conducted its affairs.
(5) In performing an audit, the statutory auditor is to apply those international auditing standards that the European Commission has adopted in the procedure pursuant to Article 26 (3) of Directive 2006/43/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 May 2006 on statutory audits of annual accounts and consolidated accounts, amending Council Directives 78/660/EEC and 83/349/EEC and repealing Council Directive 84/253/EEC (OJ L 157 p. 87), last amended by Directive 2014/56/EU (OJ L 158 of 27 May 2014, p. 196).
(6) The Federal Ministry of Justice is authorised to determine, by way of statutory instrument issued in agreement with the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action that is not subject to approval by the Bundesrat, further requirements for statutory audits in addition to the international auditing standards to be applied in performing the statutory audit pursuant to subsection (5) where this is called for by the scope of the statutory audit and serves the objectives of the audit set out in subsections (1) to (4).