The Statutory Auditors and Third Country Auditors (Amendment) Regulations 2026 make a tightly defined change to the UK's post-EU exit audit framework. According to the text published on legislation.gov.uk, the instrument was made on 13 April 2026, laid before Parliament on 21 April 2026 and will come into force on 13 May 2026. It extends to the whole of the United Kingdom. In practical terms, this is not a broad rewrite of audit law. The Regulations amend Schedule 2 to the Statutory Auditors and Third Country Auditors (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019, which is the schedule used to record approved third-country competent authorities for audit oversight co-operation.
The legal changes are confined to Table 3 of that schedule. Two entries are removed: the Ministry of Finance of the People's Republic of China and the Securities Regulatory Commission of the People's Republic of China. One entry is added: the New Zealand Financial Markets Authority. The Explanatory Note states that the China-related entries are being omitted because their expiry dates had already passed. It also states that New Zealand's competent authority is being inserted so that full adequacy is granted on an indefinite basis.
The basis for the New Zealand decision is set out in the preamble to the instrument. Acting under section 1240B of the Companies Act 2006, the Secretary of State records that, in line with regulation 13(1) of the 2020 Amendment Regulations, New Zealand's competent authority is considered adequate in its ability to co-operate with the UK's competent authority on the exchange of audit working papers and investigation reports. That adequacy finding matters because cross-border audit oversight depends on regulators being able to share evidence lawfully and reliably. Where audit work or enforcement activity touches more than one jurisdiction, the existence of an approved overseas authority gives the UK a clearer statutory route for co-operation.
The removal of the two China entries should be read carefully. On the face of the Explanatory Note, this is a housekeeping amendment linked to expired time limits, rather than a new set of restrictions introduced by this instrument. The Regulations do not replace those entries with new China provisions, nor do they attach a fresh policy explanation beyond the fact that the previous expiry dates have passed. For readers tracking regulatory status, the distinction is important. The instrument updates the list so that it reflects live approvals, while leaving the wider framework untouched. In other words, the legal change is about the current contents of the schedule, not a redesign of the UK's audit oversight model.
For firms, the most immediate effect is clarity rather than new compliance duties. New Zealand now sits within the UK's full adequacy list without an end date, which gives audit regulators a settled legal basis for co-operation where working papers or investigation material need to be exchanged between the two jurisdictions. The Explanatory Note also makes clear that ministers do not expect a material economic effect. No impact assessment has been produced because no, or no significant, impact on the private or voluntary sector is foreseen. That points to a measure aimed at maintaining the rulebook rather than changing business behaviour.
The instrument also shows how the UK is continuing to manage audit recognition on a country-by-country basis after EU exit. The 2026 Regulations sit on top of the 2019 framework and its later amendments in 2020 and 2022, using the mechanism inserted into the Companies Act 2006 for third-country audit approvals. Blair McDougall, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Business and Trade, signed the Regulations on 13 April 2026. For policy professionals and audit committees, the message is straightforward: New Zealand has been granted permanent full adequacy for co-operation purposes, while China-related entries that had already expired have been removed from the statute book.