Audit of the annual financial statements and the management report; power to issue statutory instruments

(1) The supervisory board must examine the annual financial statements and the management report of the investment stock corporation with variable capital, and must issue a written report on the outcome of its examination. It must forward its report to the management board and the auditor within one month of receiving the annual financial statements and the management report. Where the supervisory board approves the annual financial statements and the management report, these are thereby adopted.
(2) The annual financial statements and the management report of the investment stock corporation with variable capital must be audited by an auditor in accordance with the provisions of the Third Subdivision of the Second Division of Book Three of the Commercial Code. For an investment stock corporation with variable capital having sub-funds, the audit opinion may be issued only where confirmation can be issued for each individual sub-fund. Section 28 of the Banking Act applies correspondingly, with the proviso that the notification need be made only to the Federal Institute.
(3) For investment stock corporations with variable capital, the auditor must also examine whether, in the management of the assets of the investment stock corporation with variable capital,
1. the provisions of this Act,
2. the requirements
a) under Article 4(1), (2), and (3), second subparagraph, Article 4a, and Article 9(1) to (4), and Article 11(1) to (10), (11), first subparagraph, and (12), of Regulation (EU) No 648/2012,
b) under Articles 4 and 15 of Regulation (EU) 2015/2365,
c) under Article 16(1) to (4), Article 23(3) and (10), and Article 28(2) of Regulation (EU) 2016/1011,
d) under Article 28(1) to (3) of Regulation (EU) No 600/2014,
e) under Articles 5 to 9, 18 to 27, and 43(5) and (6) of Regulation (EU) 2017/2402,
f) under Articles 3 to 13 of Regulation (EU) 2019/2088,
g) under Articles 5 to 7 of Regulation (EU) 2020/852, and
h) under Articles 5 to 14, 17 to 19, 23 to 25, 28 to 30, and 45(3) of Regulation (EU) 2022/2554, including in conjunction with a delegated regulation under Article 15, 20, 28, or Article 30 of Regulation (EU) 2022/2554, and
3. the provisions of the articles of association and the investment conditions, have been complied with. In the audit, it must in particular establish whether the investment stock corporation with variable capital has fulfilled the notification obligation under section 34(1), (3), points 1 to 3, 5, 7 to 11, (4) and (5), and section 35, and the requirements under sections 36 and 37, and has fulfilled its obligations under the Anti-Money Laundering Act. The auditor must report the result of this examination separately in the audit report. The auditor must submit the report on the audit of the retail investment stock corporation with variable capital to the Federal Institute without delay after completion of the audit; the report on the audit of the special investment stock corporation with variable capital must be submitted to the Federal Institute on request. Section 29(3) of the Banking Act applies correspondingly, with the proviso that the duties regulated there towards the Deutsche Bundesbank do not apply. The Federal Institute may, without special occasion, carry out the examination under the first and second sentences itself or through agents, instead of the auditor. The investment stock corporation with variable capital must be informed of this in good time.
(3a) Without prejudice to the auditor's special duties under subsection (3), the Federal Institute may also lay down, in relation to the investment stock corporation with variable capital, provisions on the content of the examination to be taken into account by the auditor in the course of the audit of the annual financial statements. It may in particular determine focal points for the audits.
(4) The Federal Ministry of Finance is empowered, in agreement with the Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection, to issue, by statutory instrument not requiring the consent of the Bundesrat, further provisions on the subject matter of the examination under subsection (3), and on further content, scope, and presentation of the auditor's audit report, and on the manner of submission of the auditor's audit report to the Federal Institute, insofar as this is necessary for the performance of the Federal Institute's tasks, in particular in order to obtain uniform documentation for assessing the activity of investment stock corporations with variable capital. The Federal Ministry of Finance may transfer this power by statutory instrument to the Federal Institute.