El informe de auditoría con salvedades: ¿una mayor independencia y competencia del auditor aumenta su contenido informativo?

This paper analyzes the information content of a qualified audit report for Spanish listed companies. The increasing number of measures to assure auditor competence and independence justifies a review of the previous results. Prior studies analyzing various time frames show that the Spanish market does not react to the presentation of a qualified report, due to a lack of relevant content. If the changes introduced have achieved its purpose, we should see an increase in the information content of qualified reports. In order to analyze whether investors consider that information provided by the auditors as a useful tool for investment decisions, the effect of the report on the share price and trading volume was studied. Our results show a slight increase in the information content of qualified audit reports in Spain after the adopted measures, and the report is of indisputable use for investors in these companies that have a high free float capital.