독일 외부감사개혁법의 주요 내용 - 개정 외부감사법과 비교를 겸하여 -

The German External Audit Reform Act, like the European Union, is based on the recognition that improving the external audit system is not only a regulation of the financial market, but also consumer and investor protection. The legislative objective was to strengthen investor confidence in the adequacy and sincerity of external audits of entities. In order to achieve these legislative objectives, the following is essential: soundness and independence of the audit, strengthen of the external auditor's critical attitude toward the audited company, prevention of conflicts of interest, enhance of audit quality, strengthen of the responsibility of the external auditor and internal accounting officer, improving supervisory functions and simplifying supervision, and improving access to the audit market of auditors with low market share. The main contents of the German External Audit Reform Act are as follows: strict external audit only for PIEs(Public Interest Entities), duty to periodically rotate auditors(Internal Rotation), duty to rotate the key audit partner periodically(External Rotation), prohibition of non-audit services, strengthen of the audit committee's qualifications and roles, and improving transparency and fairness of external auditor's appointment process.