The EU Audit Regulation (537/2014)

states: ‘The public-interest function of statutory audit means that a broad community of people and institutions rely on the quality of a statutory auditor’s or an audit firm’s work. Good audit quality contributes to the orderly functioning of markets by enhancing the integrity and efficiency of financial statements. Thus, statutory auditors fulfil a particularly important societal role’.

Required:
Critically discuss this statement and evaluate the extent to which statutory audit fulfils a ‘particularly important societal role’. In approaching this discussion, you should spend time considering the rhetoric in the statement above and incorporating your observations into a critical discussion, for instance: How would you define ‘public interest’?;
What is the public interest function of a statutory audit?; What does ‘a broad community of people and institutions’ mean and does this align with the nature and scope of statutory audit?; What is the meaning of ‘good audit quality’?