The Secretary of State may by regulations grant to a third country, or make provision for the grant to a third country of—
approval as an equivalent third country,
provisional approval, for a period of up to seven years, as an equivalent third country, or
transitional approval, for a period of up to seven years, as a transitional third country,
Regulations under subsection (1) may (among other things)—
specify the procedure for assessing the audit regulatory regime of a third country;
set out the considerations which must be taken into account, or may be taken into account, by the Secretary of State when determining—
whether the third country has an audit regulatory regime comparable to that of the United Kingdom,
whether to grant approval, provisional approval or transitional approval, and
the period for which provisional approval or transitional approval should be granted;
specify the procedure for the granting of approval, provisional approval or transitional approval;
set out a list of third countries that have been granted approval, provisional approval or transitional approval;
make provision for the amendment, suspension or withdrawal of approval, provisional approval or transitional approval.
In this section, "audit regulatory regime" in relation to a country or territory, means the system of public oversight, quality assurance, investigations and sanctions for auditors in that country or territory.
Regulations under this section are subject to negative resolution procedure.