Spilios Spiliopoulos and Partners Law Firm, acting on behalf of a public limited company, prepares a legal opinion on the conditions and procedure for the abolition of the Audit Committee of a non-listed company.
More specifically, Article 44 of Law 4449/2017 and European Regulation 537/2014 require every public interest entity (listed companies, banks, insurance companies, etc.) to have an Audit Committee, which must consist of at least three members and operate either as an independent committee or as a committee of the board of directors.
Its members are non-executive members of the board and members elected by the general meeting, who must have sufficient knowledge of the entity’s area of activity, the majority of whom must be independent, and one member must be a statutory auditor or have sufficient knowledge of auditing and accounting.
The audit committee has an important role in the operation of the entity and among other things: a) informs the board of directors of the outcome of the statutory audit; b) monitors the financial reporting process and makes recommendations or proposals to ensure its reliability; c) oversees the effectiveness of the internal control systems, up to and including the entity’s risk management procedures; d) monitors the statutory audit of the annual and consolidated financial statement, taking into account any findings and conclusions of the competent supervisory authority; (e) reviewing and monitoring the independence of statutory auditors or audit firms; and (f) being responsible for the process of selecting statutory auditors and recommending the statutory auditors or audit firms to be appointed.
