Final answer:
c) Legal services unrelated to the audit
Legal services unrelated to the audit generally do not impair an auditor's independence, unlike bookkeeping, internal audit outsourcing, or valuation services, which are identified by the SEC as potentially impairing independence.
Step-by-step explanation:
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has identified several non-audit services that, if provided by an auditor to an audit client, could impair the auditor’s independence.
These services include bookkeeping, internal audit outsourcing, and valuation services. However, legal services that are unrelated to the audit generally do not impair an auditor's independence.
It is essential for auditors to maintain independence to ensure that their audit opinion is objective and reliable.
An auditor providing bookkeeping or other financial information systems design and implementation, appraisal or valuation services, actuarial services, internal audit outsourcing services, or any other services related to the accounting records or financial statements of the audit client is considered to be taking on roles that might align too closely with the management of the client thus impairing the auditor’s objectivity.