Recital 9

(9)It is important that statutory auditors and audit firms respect the rights to private life and data protection of their clients. They should therefore be bound by strict rules on confidentiality and professional secrecy which should not, however, impede the proper enforcement of this Directive and of Regulation (EU) No 537/2014 or cooperation with the group auditor during the performance of the audit of consolidated financial statements when the parent undertaking is in a third country, provided that Directive 95/46/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council ⁶ is complied with. However, such rules should not allow a statutory auditor or an audit firm to cooperate with third-country authorities outside the cooperation channels provided for in Chapter XI of Directive 2006/43/EC. Those confidentiality rules should also apply to any statutory auditor or audit firm that has ceased to be involved in a specific audit task.