Collective Investment Vehicles and Pension Funds - Auditor Independence

Objective

The objectives of the project team are to:

  1. Review CIVs and pension fund arrangements and their relationships with trustees, managers and advisors to gain a comprehensive understanding of these arrangements to ensure that the independence provisions and the application of the “related entity” definition in the International Independence Standards in Part 4A of the Code remain fit for purpose;

  2. Review investment company complexes and consider whether the Code should be enhanced to address these structures, such as establishing new terms and definitions, and clarifying which entities or arrangements within such a complex should be considered as related entities of an audit client; and

  3. Develop a report and recommendations to the IESBA.

PROJECT TEAM
BOARD ADVISOR
IESBA December 2025 Meeting Highlights

The IESBA considered and accepted the Project Team’s final report on auditor independence with respect to audits of collective investment vehicles (CIVs) and pension funds. The final report reflected the results of the Project Team’s extensive research throughout the lifecycle of the workstream, as well as the significant comments raised by respondents to the March 2025 consultation paper (CP) on the topic and the IESBA’s initial reflections on the CP responses at its September 2025 meeting.

After discussing the Project Team’s analysis of four possible courses of action, the IESBA agreed with the Project Team’s recommendation to commission the development of non-authoritative material (NAM) to provide further clarity and guidance regarding the application of the conceptual framework in this area.

The IESBA will consider the Project Team’s proposals for the nature and extent of NAM to commission on the topic, and how best to approach the development of such NAM, in due course, taking into account other priority commitments.

Project Stages