Chapter IV: Penalties

The rapporteur general shall be informed of any fact likely to justify the initiation of sanction proceedings by: 1° The first president of the Cour des Comptes or the president of a regional audit chamber; 2° The public prosecutor at the relevant court of appeal; 3° The president of the Autorité des marchés financiers; 4° The president of the Autorité de contrôle prudentiel et de résolution; 5° The president of…

The rapporteur general shall conduct an investigation. He may appoint investigators to assist him. The general rapporteur and the investigators may for this purpose: 1° Obtain from the statutory auditor, without the statutory auditor being able to invoke professional secrecy, any document or information, in any form whatsoever; they may require a copy thereof; 2° Obtain from any person any document or information useful to the investigation; they may require…

When he finds facts likely to be linked to money laundering or terrorist financing, the General Rapporteur shall inform the department mentioned in Article L. 561-23 of the Monetary and Financial Code.

When particularly serious acts appear likely to justify criminal or disciplinary sanctions, the General Rapporteur may, when justified by urgency and the public interest, and after the person concerned has been given the opportunity to present his observations, refer to the High Council, which deliberates without the presence of the restricted formation, a request for provisional suspension for a maximum period of six months, of a statutory auditor, natural person….

The High Council, acting in a restricted formation, hears actions brought against statutory auditors registered on the list mentioned in I of Article L. 822-1, third-country auditors mentioned in I of Article L. 822-1-5 and persons other than statutory auditors.

The panel summons the accused person to a hearing, which is held at least two months after the statement of objections is notified. Where there is a serious reason to doubt the impartiality of a member of the panel, he or she is disqualified at the request of the accused person or the general rapporteur. The hearing is public. However, on his own initiative or at the request of the…