Under what circumstances should audit firms shred or destroy audit working papers?

Given the developments in the AA Case, audit working papers should not be destroyed before they could be of assistance and/or relevant in any legal, tax or other dispute. This means that the auditor should retain paper or digital versions for a very long time. In some jurisdictions, the statute of limitations might come into play at the end of seven or ten years, but may not where fraud is concerned. An audit firm may chose not to follow the statutory limits because they might wish to be able to respond to protect themselves for a longer period. Public expectations that affect reputations are not bound by legal limits.