1464. (1) A recognised accountancy body may, on application made to it by an individual or a firm, approve, under this Part, the applicant as a statutory auditor or audit firm.

(2) A recognised accountancy body may, on foot of an application under subsection (1), grant approval under this Part only to—

(a) individuals, or

(b) firms,

who are of good repute.

(3) A recognised accountancy body may, on application made to it by a third-country auditor and in accordance with Chapter 20, approve, under this Part, the applicant as a statutory auditor.

(4) Subsection (5) applies in the case of an application under subsection (1)—

(a) by a firm that is a Member State audit firm in the circumstances where it is not seeking registration in accordance with section 1465, or

(b) by a Member State auditor.

(5) For the purposes of this section, the fact that the applicant is a Member State audit firm or Member State auditor shall constitute conclusive evidence that the applicant is of good repute unless, arising out of the cooperation that the State is required to engage in by virtue of Part VIII of the Audit Directive, the counterpart authority in the Member State where the applicant is approved as a statutory audit firm or auditor has notified the Supervisory Authority or a recognised accountancy body that the counterpart authority has reasonable grounds for believing that the good repute of the audit firm or auditor has been seriously compromised.

(6) On approving a person as a statutory auditor or audit firm, a recognised accountancy body shall assign an individual identification number to the person.

(7) The recognised accountancy body shall maintain a record in writing of all numbers assigned by it under subsection (6).]