Auditor Oversight Act (AOA)
English is not an official language of the Swiss Confederation. This translation is provided for information purposes only and has no legal force.
Art. 3 Principle
1 Individuals and audit firms providing audit services as defined in Article 2 letter a shall require a licence. 2 Individuals shall be licensed for an unlimited period and audit firms for a period of five years.
Art. 4 Requirements for audit experts
1 An individual shall be licensed as an audit expert if he or she satisfies the requirements relating to education and professional experience and has a spotless record. 2 The following persons satisfy the requirements relating to education and professional experience: a. Swiss certified accountants; b. Swiss certified fiduciary experts, Swiss certified tax consultants and accounting and controlling experts who hold the federal diploma, provided they each have at least five years’ professional experience; c. graduates in business, economics or law followed from a Swiss university or university of applied sciences, specialists in finance and accounting who hold a federal certificate and fiduciaries who hold a federal certificate, provided they each have at least twelve years’ professional experience; d. persons who hold foreign qualifications comparable to those stated under letter a, b or c, have corresponding professional experience and can demonstrate the necessary knowledge of Swiss
Art. 5 Requirements for auditors
1 An individual shall be licensed as an auditor if he or she: a. has a spotless record; b. is qualified in accordance with Article 4 paragraph 2; c. can demonstrate one year’s professional experience. 2 The professional experience must have been acquired primarily in the fields of accounting and auditing under the oversight of a licensed auditor or a foreign specialist with comparable qualifications. Professional experience acquired while education shall be taken into account, provided that these requirements have been met.
Art. 6 Requirements for audit firms
1 An audit firm shall be licensed as an audit expert or auditor if: a. the majority of the members of its highest supervisory or governing body and of its executive body hold the relevant licence; b. at least one fifth of the persons involved in providing audit services hold the relevant licence; c. it is ensured that all lead auditors hold the relevant licence; d. the management structure guarantees that individual engagements will be supervised sufficiently. 2 Public-sector audit offices shall be licensed as audit firms if they satisfy the requirements in accordance with paragraph 1. It shall not be possible for them to be licensed as audit firms under state oversight.