Audit reports from financial investment intermediaries and financial investment advisors Receipt

As a fee-based financial investment advisor or financial investment broker, you must submit an annual audit report or alternatively a so-called negative declaration to your supervisory authority.

As a fee-based financial investment advisor or financial investment broker, you are obliged to submit either an audit report in accordance with the Financial Investment Brokerage Ordinance or a negative declaration to your competent licensing authority by 31.12. of the following year.

To do this, you must first have compliance with the legal obligations described in the Financial Investment Brokerage Ordinance checked. These obligations include, for example, requirements for informing customers and documenting business transactions. The audit must be carried out by a suitable auditor, in particular

• Auditors, sworn auditors, auditing and accounting firms,
• Auditing associations whose legal or statutory purpose includes the regular and extraordinary auditing of their members, provided they meet certain requirements.

You select the auditor(s) for the audit as part of your annual reporting obligations. The audit is carried out at your expense.

Auditors are unsuitable if there are concerns of bias, i.e. if there are circumstances that could jeopardize the independence of the auditor.

If you work exclusively for a sales company, you may submit a system audit report by an auditor instead of the individual audit report, which confirms the appropriateness and effectiveness of the internal control system of the sales company for compliance with the obligations by the affiliated traders for the audit period. However, an individual audit report must be submitted after 4 years at the latest.

If you have not carried out any activities in the reporting period, you must submit a corresponding declaration (so-called negative declaration) without being requested to do so.

Forms available: No

Written form required: No

Informal application possible: Yes

Personal appearance necessary: No

The audit report must contain the awards to be made and must be submitted to the competent licensing authority by 31.12 of the following year.

The same applies to the negative declaration.

• Action before the administrative court
• Appeal (depending on state law, the appeal may be excluded)

First, you appoint a recognized auditor to audit the professional obligations arising from the Financial Investment Brokerage Ordinance.

• You submit the audit report in writing or electronically to the competent supervisory authority.
• If you have not carried out any activities in the reporting year, you must submit a negative declaration to the competent supervisory authority.
• If your supervisory authority charges fees for reviewing the report, you will subsequently receive a fee notice.

If neither the audit report nor the negative declaration are submitted by the above-mentioned deadline, a fine must be considered.