Appointment of the auditor in special cases

(1) Institutions must notify the Federal Institute and the Deutsche Bundesbank of the auditor they have appointed without delay after the appointment. Within two months of receiving the notification, the Federal Institute may require the appointment of a different auditor where this is necessary to achieve the purpose of the audit. The appointment of a different auditor is generally necessary to achieve the purpose of the audit where an institution that is not a public-interest entity under section 316a, second sentence, points 1 or 2, of the Commercial Code has notified the Federal Institute of the same auditor for at least eleven consecutive financial years. Where the institution has appointed as auditor an auditing firm that was the institution's auditor in one of the two preceding financial years, the Federal Institute may require a change of the auditor responsible for the engagement, where the preceding audit, including the audit report, did not fulfil the purpose of the audit; section 43(3), third sentence, of the Public Accountants Act applies correspondingly. The Federal Institute may also require the appointment of a different auditor, or a change of the auditor responsible for the engagement, where facts become known to it justifying the assumption that the auditor has breached its duties under section 29(3).
(2) The court of the institution's registered office must, on the Federal Institute's application, appoint an auditor where 1. the notification under subsection (1), first sentence, is not made without delay after the end of the financial year; 2. the institution does not comply without delay with a requirement to appoint a different auditor under subsection (1), second or fifth sentence; 3. the auditor chosen has declined to accept the audit engagement, has ceased to exist, or is prevented from completing the audit in time, and the institution has not appointed a different auditor without delay. The appointment by the court is final. Section 318(5) of the Commercial Code applies correspondingly. The court may, on the Federal Institute's application, remove an auditor appointed under the first sentence.
(3) Subsection (1), first to third sentences, and subsection (2) do not apply to credit institutions belonging to a cooperative audit association, or audited by the audit office of a savings bank and giro association. Subsection (1), fourth and fifth sentences, applies correspondingly to these credit institutions, on the basis that the Federal Institute may require a change of the auditor responsible for the engagement.