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On 16 December, 2025, the European Parliament approved the provisional agreement between the EU Parliament and the Council of the European Union on simplifying sustainability reporting and due…
Exclusive Study by the Chamber of Public Accountants
The results of the market structure analysis conducted by the Chamber of Public Accountants (WPK) for 2024 (www.wpk.de/marktstrukturanalyse/) (in…
Statement by the Federal Council
On 17 October 2025, the Federal Council adopted the recommendations of its committees and proposed opening up the sustainability reporting audit market to…
On 23 October 2025, the Council of the European Union adopted its 19th package of sanctions against Russia.
Amended EU Regulations
Regulation (EU) No. 833/2014 concerning restrictive measures in…
On 14 October 2025, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) updated the ESEF Reporting Manual on the European Single Electronic Format.
Among other things, the updated manual takes into…
The Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWE) has instructed the Federal Office for Economic Affairs and Export Control (BAFA) to act with restraint and in a business-friendly manner…
On September 1, 2025, immediately after their approval by the Public Interest Oversight Board (PI-OB), the International Auditing and Assurance Board (IAASB) published narrow scope amendments to…
On 3 September 2025 the German government adopted and published the government draft of a CSRD implementation law. The draft and Q&A from the German government are available on the website of the…
On 31 July, 2025, the European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG) published the draft of the revised European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) and opened it for consultation. The…
In a letter dated July 18, 2025, the WPK submitted its comments to the Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection on its draft bill for a law implementing Directive (EU) 2022/2464 on…
Recently, there have been repeated transactions in the market relating to ownership interests in audit firms involving private equity.
Following thorough discussions weighing the pros and cons, the…
On 17 June 2025, the WPK issued a statement as part of the International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants (IESBA) consultation on collective investment vehicles (CIVs) and pension funds.
While…
At its meeting on 26 May 2025, the WPK's Artificial Intelligence Executive Committee updated the catalogue of ‘Questions and Answers on the Use of Artificial Intelligence in Audit Firms’. The…
On 12 May 2025, the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC), together with the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants…
The International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) is conducting a study on the attractiveness of the profession until 31 May 2025. The aim of the study is to analyse the different perspectives…
The International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants (IESBA) has launched a consultation on collective investment vehicles and pension funds (Consultation Paper Collective Investment Vehicles and…
On 10 February 2025, the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB) published a so-called Post-Exposure- consultation before finalizing the narrow scope amendments to the…
On February 26, 2025, the European Commission published proposals to simplify sustainability reporting and assurance. The proposals essentially comprise the Omnibus Directives amending the Statutory…
With the entry into force of the EU Regulation on Artificial Intelligence (AI Regulation) on August 1, 2024, comprehensive rules for the use of AI systems were introduced. These will take effect…
On 24 January 2025, Accountancy Europe, the European umbrella organization of the auditing profession, published an overview of the status of implementation of the Corporate Sustainability Reporting…
The International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants (IESBA) published two amendments to the IESBA Code of Ethics (Code) on January 17, 2025:
International Ethics Standards for…
The European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG) has submitted a standard for voluntary sustainability reporting by non-capital-market-oriented small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to the…
The International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants (IESBA) approved two revisions to the IESBA Code of Ethics (Code) on December 5, 2024:
Proposed International Ethics Standards for…
Following a meeting of EU heads of state and government with the European Commission in Budapest on November 8, 2024, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced an omnibus regulation to…
The draft bill of the Annual Tax Act 2024 provided for the introduction of Section 87a (1) sentence 2 AO‑E. According to this, the use of special electronic mailboxes for lawyers,…
On October 24, 2024, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) published its audit priorities for the upcoming 2025 audit season (PDF). These must be taken into particular consideration…
The Legal Affairs Committee of the German Federal Parliament held a public hearing on sustainability reporting on October 16, 2024 (in German). Andreas Dörschell, President of the WPK, took part…
On September 26, 2024, the German Federal Parliament discussed the government's draft CSRD Implementation Act at first reading and referred it to the committees. The WPK submitted its comments to the…
Law in the Federal Parliament today - Chamber of Public Accountants reminds of European requirements - The government draft of a law to transpose the European Corporate Sustainability Reporting…
On August 29, 2024, the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB) published the 2023-2024 edition of the Handbook of International Quality Control, Auditing, Review, Other…
The International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB) has issued guidance (Authority Supplemental Guidance) on the application of the International Standard on Auditing of Financial…
On August 7, 2024, the European Commission published a comprehensive catalog of questions and answers on sustainability reporting and its assurance (PDF). The 90 questions cover the following eight…
On July 22, 2024, the WPK commented on the Committee of European Auditing Oversight Boards' (CEAOB) draft non-binding guidance on the limited assurance engagement on sustainability reporting. The…
On July 24, 2024, the Federal Ministry of Justice (BMJ) published the government draft of a law to implement Directive (EU) 2022/2464 of the European Parliament and of the Council of…
On July 5, 2024, the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) was published in the Official Journal of the European Union (Directive (EU) 2024/1760). The directive must be transposed…
In March 2024, the Federal Ministry of Justice published the draft bill for a so-called CSRD Implementation Act. The WPK participated in the consultation of the associations with a statement dated…
On May 31, 2024, the European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG) published three Implementation Guidance documents on the implementation of the European Sustainability Reporting Standards in…
On May 8, 2024, the WPK commented on the draft Proposed International Ethics Standards for Sustainability Assurance (including International Independence Standards) (IESSA) and Other Revisions to the…
On April 29, 2024, the WPK commented on the draft Using the Work of an External Expert as part of the consultation of the International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants (IESBA). The draft…
German Chamber of Public Accountants (WPK) advocates the gradual establishment of a market for the confirmation of sustainability information – The draft law of the Federal Ministry of Justice on the…
On April 8, 2024, the WPK commented on limited changes due to the amended PIE definition (Track 2) as part of the IAASB's consultation. The amendments are primarily intended to align the…
On March 22, 2024, the Federal Ministry of Justice (BMJ) published a draft bill to implement Directive (EU) 2022/2464 of the European Parliament and of the Council of December 14, 2022…
On March 15, 2024, the Committee of Permanent Representatives (COREPER) approved a compromise proposal on the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) after prolonged resistance from…
The European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG) has published the first twelve questions and answers on the application of ESRS (Explanations 1/2024) on its ESRS Q&A Platform set up in…
On February 22, 2024, the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC), together with the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and the Chartered Institute of Management…
The European Council and the European Parliament have reached a provisional agreement to follow the European Commission's proposal and postpone the adoption of the sector-specific ESRS, originally…
The International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants (IESBA) has published two consultations (Exposure Drafts, EDs) on amendments to the Code of Ethics (Code):
Sustainability: Proposed…
