The legal liability of auditors in Germany

Abstract

The European Union tried to harmonize the qualifications of auditors in member states through the Eighth Company Law Directive. However, other aspects of the regulation of auditors have not been dealt with in EC directives and show a wide diversity. Rules concerning the liability of auditors are one example of this diversity. Germany provides an extreme example in the case of this liability problem, since it is operating with a capped liability and providing third parties with only few possibilities to sue an auditor. This limited liability is probably one reason for a small number of cases. The purpose of this article is to describe and to review critically the German system of auditor's liability, and to identify specific environmental German factors which might explain the current system.