We’ll get you ready for inspection!

The Financial Reporting Enforcement Panel (FREP) conducts spot-checks or checks for a certain purpose on German listed companies’ compliance with financial reporting standards. The focus of these is mostly group financial statements under IFRS. As part of their audit, the FREP usually requests documentation from entities and requires information on certain accounting matters as the basis for evaluating the appropriateness of the financial reporting.

It is often challenging for the companies concerned to meet the FREP’s requirements on time.  They also often don’t understand how FREP works in certain issues, meaning that FREP’s need for information and maintaining companies’ interests are often not balanced. This often results in proceedings taking a long time and includes unnecessary error findings.

We have assisted many clients with FREP proceedings and learnt the way FREP operates and met many of their auditors. Based on this, we have been mostly successful in finding solutions that are reasonable and acceptable to all the parties and, where unavoidable, come with less publicity.   

Our solutions

  • Strategic and tactical communication planning
  • Procedure management
  • Specialist support
  • Research in literature and databases
  • Suggestions for argumentation and formulation
  • Assistance with talks with FREP auditors in person and by phone
  • Support with case-based queries to FREP on pre-clearance proceedings