{
  "url": "https://openlegislation.uk/building-societies-act-1986/section-78",
  "json_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/building-societies-act-1986/section-78.json",
  "legislation": "ukpga/1986/53",
  "legislation_title": "Building Societies Act 1986",
  "legislation_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/building-societies-act-1986",
  "path": "section/78",
  "kind": "section",
  "number": "78",
  "heading": "Auditor’s report .",
  "text": "(1) The auditor of a building society shall make a written report to the members on the annual accounts which are to be laid before the society at the annual general meeting during his tenure of office.\n(2) The auditor’s report shall . . . be open to inspection by any member at the annual general meeting of the building society.\n(3) The auditor shall, in his report under subsection (1) above, also make a report to the members on—\n(a) the annual business statement, and\n(b) the directors’ report,\nin so far as subsection (7) below requires him to do so.\n(3A) The auditor's report must include—\n(a) the identity of the building society whose annual accounts are the subject of the audit,\n(b) a description of the annual accounts that are the subject of the audit (including the period covered by those accounts),\n(c) a description of the financial reporting framework that has been applied in the preparation of those accounts, and\n(d) a description of the scope of the audit identifying the auditing standards in accordance with which the audit was conducted.\n(4) The report must clearly state the opinion of the auditor as to whether the accounts—\n(a) give a true and fair view—\n(i) in the case of an individual balance sheet, of the state of affairs of the society as at the end of the financial year,\n(ii) in the case of an individual income and expenditure account, of the income and expenditure of the society for the financial year, and\n(iii) in the case of group accounts, of the state of affairs as at the end of the financial year and the income and expenditure for the financial year of the society and the subsidiary undertakings dealt with in the group accounts, so far as concerns members of the society,\n(b) have been properly prepared in accordance with the relevant financial reporting framework, and\n(c) have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of this Act (and, where applicable, section 403(1) of the Companies Act 2006).\n(4A) The auditor's report must—\n(a) be either unqualified or qualified,\n(b) include a reference to any matters to which the auditor wishes to draw attention by way of emphasis without qualifying the report,\n(c) include a statement on any material uncertainty relating to events or conditions that may cast significant doubt about the building society's ability to continue to adopt the going concern basis of accounting, and\n(d) identify the auditor's place of establishment.\n(6) If the auditor’s report includes a qualification of his opinion that the annual accounts give a true and fair view of the matters specified in subsection (4)(a) above, subsection (8) of section 76 extends also to the auditor’s report.\n(7) The auditor's report, in so far as it deals with the documents specified in subsection (3) above, must—\n(a) state whether, in his opinion, based on the work undertaken in the course of the audit—\n(i) the documents have been prepared so as to conform to the requirements of, or made under, sections 74 and 75 respectively,\n(ii) the information given in the annual business statement gives a true representation of the matters in respect of which it is given, and\n(iii) the information given in the directors' report for the financial year for which the accounts are prepared is consistent with those accounts,\n(b) state whether, in the light of the knowledge and understanding of the building society and its environment obtained in the course of the audit, the auditor has identified material misstatements in the directors' report, and\n(c) if applicable, give an indication of the nature of each of the misstatements referred to in paragraph (b).\n(8) The auditor’s report on the annual business statement shall not deal with any matters which, by virtue of section 74(6), are not to be the subject of report under this section.\n(9) The auditor of a building society shall, as regards the statement of particulars of transactions falling within section 65 which the society is to make available for \"inspection by members under section 68(3), examine the statement before it is made available to members and make a report to the members on it; and the report shall be annexed to the statement before it is so made available.\n(10) The auditor’s report under subsection (9) above shall state whether in his opinion the statement contains the particulars required by section 68; and where his opinion is that it does not, he shall include in his report, so far as he is reasonably able to do so, a statement giving the requisite particulars.\n(11) Where more than one person is appointed as an auditor—\n(a) all the persons appointed must jointly make a report under this section and the report must include a statement as to whether all the persons appointed agree—\n(i) on the matters contained in the report, and\n(ii) on the statements and indications given under subsection (7); and\n(b) if all the persons appointed cannot agree on—\n(i) the matters contained in the report, or\n(ii) on the statements and indications given under subsection (7),\nthe report must include the opinions of each person appointed and give reasons for the disagreement.",
  "extent": "E+W+S+N.I.",
  "status": null,
  "version": "current",
  "annotations": [
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F1",
      "text": "Word in s. 78(1) substituted (29.6.2008) by The Building Societies Act 1986 (Accounts, Audit and EEA State Amendments) Order 2008 (S.I. 2008/1519), art. 1(2), Sch. 2 para. 4(a)(i)"
    },
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F2",
      "text": "Word in s. 78(1) inserted (17.6.2016) by The Statutory Auditors and Third Country Auditors Regulations 2016 (S.I. 2016/649), reg. 1(1)(a), Sch. 4 para. 3(a) (with reg. 1(6))"
    },
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F3",
      "text": "Word in s. 78(1) substituted (29.6.2008) by The Building Societies Act 1986 (Accounts, Audit and EEA State Amendments) Order 2008 (S.I. 2008/1519), art. 1(2), Sch. 2 para. 4(a)(ii)"
    },
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F4",
      "text": "Words in s. 78(2) substituted (29.6.2008) by The Building Societies Act 1986 (Accounts, Audit and EEA State Amendments) Order 2008 (S.I. 2008/1519), art. 1(2), Sch. 2 para. 4(b)"
    },
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F5",
      "text": "Words in s. 78(2) repealed (11.1.1996) by S.I. 1995/3233, art. 6(a)"
    },
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F6",
      "text": "Words in s. 78(2) inserted (11.1.1996) by S.I. 1995/3233, art. 6(b)"
    },
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F7",
      "text": "Words in s. 78(3) substituted (29.6.2008) by The Building Societies Act 1986 (Accounts, Audit and EEA State Amendments) Order 2008 (S.I. 2008/1519), art. 1(2), Sch. 2 para. 4(c)(i)"
    },
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F8",
      "text": "Word in s. 78(3) substituted (29.6.2008) by The Building Societies Act 1986 (Accounts, Audit and EEA State Amendments) Order 2008 (S.I. 2008/1519), art. 1(2), Sch. 2 para. 4(c)(ii)"
    },
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F9",
      "text": "S. 78(3A)-(4A) substituted (17.6.2016) by The Statutory Auditors and Third Country Auditors Regulations 2016 (S.I. 2016/649), reg. 1(1)(a), Sch. 4 para. 3(b) (with reg. 1(6))"
    },
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F10",
      "text": "S. 78(4) substituted (with effect in accordance with reg. 1(4) of the amending S.I.) by The Statutory Auditors and Third Country Auditors Regulations 2017 (S.I. 2017/516), regs. 1(2), 2(2)(a)"
    },
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F11",
      "text": "Words in s. 78(4)(c) substituted (31.12.2020) by The International Accounting Standards and European Public Limited-Liability Company (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (S.I. 2019/685), reg. 1(2), Sch. 1 para. 34 (with reg. 1(3)(4), Sch. 1 para. 66) (as amended by S.I. 2020/523, regs. 1(2), 22, 25(d)); 2020 c. 1, Sch. 5 para. 1(1)"
    },
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F12",
      "text": "Word in s. 78(4A) substituted (with effect in accordance with reg. 1(4) of the amending S.I.) by The Statutory Auditors and Third Country Auditors Regulations 2017 (S.I. 2017/516), regs. 1(2), 2(2)(b)(i)"
    },
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F13",
      "text": "Word in s. 78(4A)(b) substituted (with effect in accordance with reg. 1(4) of the amending S.I.) by The Statutory Auditors and Third Country Auditors Regulations 2017 (S.I. 2017/516), regs. 1(2), 2(2)(b)(ii)"
    },
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F14",
      "text": "Words in s. 78(4A)(c) substituted (with effect in accordance with reg. 1(4) of the amending S.I.) by The Statutory Auditors and Third Country Auditors Regulations 2017 (S.I. 2017/516), regs. 1(2), 2(2)(b)(iii)"
    },
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F15",
      "text": "Words in s. 78(6) substituted (29.6.2008) by The Building Societies Act 1986 (Accounts, Audit and EEA State Amendments) Order 2008 (S.I. 2008/1519), art. 1(2), Sch. 2 para. 4(g)"
    },
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F16",
      "text": "Word in s. 78(6) substituted (with effect in accordance with reg. 1(4) of the amending S.I.) by The Statutory Auditors and Third Country Auditors Regulations 2017 (S.I. 2017/516), regs. 1(2), 2(2)(c)"
    },
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F17",
      "text": "Words in s. 78(6) substituted (18.2.2014) by Financial Services (Banking Reform) Act 2013 (c. 33), s. 148(2), Sch. 9 para. 7(a)"
    },
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F18",
      "text": "S. 78(7) substituted (17.6.2016) by The Statutory Auditors and Third Country Auditors Regulations 2016 (S.I. 2016/649), reg. 1(1)(a), Sch. 4 para. 3(d) (with reg. 1(6))"
    },
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F19",
      "text": "Words in s. 78(8) substituted (29.6.2008) by The Building Societies Act 1986 (Accounts, Audit and EEA State Amendments) Order 2008 (S.I. 2008/1519), art. 1(2), Sch. 2 para. 4(i)"
    },
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F20",
      "text": "Word in s. 78(9) substituted (29.6.2008) by The Building Societies Act 1986 (Accounts, Audit and EEA State Amendments) Order 2008 (S.I. 2008/1519), art. 1(2), Sch. 2 para. 4(j)"
    },
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F21",
      "text": "Words in s. 78(10) substituted (29.6.2008) by The Building Societies Act 1986 (Accounts, Audit and EEA State Amendments) Order 2008 (S.I. 2008/1519), art. 1(2), Sch. 2 para. 4(k)(i)"
    },
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F22",
      "text": "Words in s. 78(10) substituted (29.6.2008) by The Building Societies Act 1986 (Accounts, Audit and EEA State Amendments) Order 2008 (S.I. 2008/1519), art. 1(2), Sch. 2 para. 4(k)(ii)"
    },
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F23",
      "text": "Words in s. 78(10) substituted (29.6.2008) by The Building Societies Act 1986 (Accounts, Audit and EEA State Amendments) Order 2008 (S.I. 2008/1519), art. 1(2), Sch. 2 para. 4(k)(iii)"
    },
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F24",
      "text": "Words in s. 78(10) substituted (29.6.2008) by The Building Societies Act 1986 (Accounts, Audit and EEA State Amendments) Order 2008 (S.I. 2008/1519), art. 1(2), Sch. 2 para. 4(k)(iv)"
    },
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F25",
      "text": "S. 78(11) inserted (17.6.2016) by The Statutory Auditors and Third Country Auditors Regulations 2016 (S.I. 2016/649), reg. 1(1)(a), Sch. 4 para. 3(e) (with reg. 1(6))"
    },
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F26",
      "text": "Words in s. 78 heading substituted (29.6.2008) by The Building Societies Act 1986 (Accounts, Audit and EEA State Amendments) Order 2008 (S.I. 2008/1519), art. 1(2), Sch. 2 para. 4(l)"
    },
    {
      "type": "C",
      "label": "C1",
      "text": "S. 78 restricted (1. 1. 1993) by S.I. 1992/359, reg. 9(4) (with reg. 2(2))"
    }
  ],
  "outstanding_effects": [],
  "provenance": {
    "source": "legislation.gov.uk",
    "source_url": "https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1986/53/section/78",
    "retrieved_at": "2026-10-29T09:54:49.368285+00:00"
  },
  "licence": "Open Government Licence v3.0",
  "licence_url": "https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/",
  "attribution": "Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives."
}