The EC's Internal Markets Commissioner, Charlie McCreevy, said today that there is no need for regulators in Europe to give new guidance on auditing companies affected by the turmoil in the US subprime market.

McCreevy told journalists at a conference in Brussels that top auditing firms are already in talks over how to address issues such as verifying the accuracy of a company's exposure to certain financial products.

He was responding to earlier comments at an audit regulation conference, during which Public Company Accounting Oversight Board chairman Mark Olson said that the crisis stemming from home mortgage defaults by the less creditworthy has created complex accounting issues and may need guidance, Reuters reported.

Olson and McCreevy had earlier delivered speeches at the Federation of European Accountants conference on Audit Regulation.

Olson said the board is looking at how fair value of an asset, such as complex repackaged bonds linked to subprime mortgages, could be calculated when trading in those products had seized up.

'It has not been decided for certain that we will be providing the guidance, but it would be similar to what we did for options dating. It's an effort to clarify some of the key areas auditors should focus on,' Olson said.

Further reading:

Mutual oversight of audit to be discussed at FEE conference