Licensed audit expert (Switzerland)

A licensed audit expert (expert-réviseur agréé) is the highest-level statutory auditor qualification in Switzerland, authorised by the Federal Audit Oversight Authority (FAOA / ASR) to conduct ordinary statutory audits of large companies and all public interest entities. They must meet rigorous education, experience and independence requirements. Below this level, "registered auditors" (réviseurs agréés) may conduct restricted reviews (contrôle restreint) for smaller entities. In M&A, the presence of a licensed audit expert confirms that the target has undergone a thorough statutory audit — increasing the reliability of financial statements provided in due diligence.

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Example: the acquisition of a Zurich SA subject to ordinary statutory audit reveals clean audit reports from a licensed expert-réviseur agréé for the last three financial years — no qualifications, no material weaknesses flagged. This clean audit history reduces perceived accounting risk in the valuation, justifying a lower specific risk premium in the WACC and supporting the buyer's confidence in the reported financial figures.

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Hectelion assesses audit quality as a reliability indicator for financial information in every Swiss acquisition due diligence.