REGULATION ON ENTRUSTMENT OR HIRING OF AUDIT FIRMS TO PERFORM AUDITS
On August 15, 2017, the State Auditor General signed the Decision No. 09/2017/QD-KTNN on promulgating the Regulation on entrustment or hiring of audit firms to perform audits.
The Regulation points out clearly that the State Audit Office of Vietnam may entrust or hire audit firms to audit the following agencies and organizations: Socio-political organizations, socio-political professional organizations, social organizations, socio-professional organizations using state budget funds; Public non-business units; Management units of investment projects using state budget funds or state budget-originated funds, ODA and NGO funds (when requested); associations, unions, confederations and other organizations with operation funds partly supported by the State; dd/ Enterprises with over 50% state-held charter capital, enterprises with 50% or less state-contributed charter capital; enterprises managing and using public finance or assets… Within that, The State Audit Office of Vietnam may not entrust or hire audit firms to audit the following agencies and organizations: ministries, ministerial-level agencies, government-attached agencies and other central agencies; agencies assigned to perform state budget collection and spending tasks at all levels; People’s Councils and People’s Committees at all levels, other local agencies; People’s armed forces units; Units managing the State’s reserve funds, reserve funds of all sectors and levels, other financial funds of the State; Organizations managing national assets…
And to be entrusted or hired to perform audits, an audit firm must fully meet the following conditions: having satisfied all conditions for lawful operation and been approved to be named on the publicized list annually selected by the Ministry of Finance, State Securities Committee or World Bank; Having not committed any audit quality-related violations which were handled by a state agency or an audit association over the last 3 years; In the current year and previous two years having not provided the services of recording accounting books and making financial statements and services of internal audit, asset valuation, management and financial consultancy to clients to be audited as entrusted or hired by the State Audit Office of Vietnam; having not provided the above services in the audit period falling in the audit contents entrusted or hired by the State Audit Office of Vietnam; Its managers and executives not being founding members or shareholders or not purchasing shares from or contributing capital to to-be audited entities, or not having other economic and financial relations with to-be audited entities according to the code of professional ethics of accountants and auditors. Managers, executives, control board members or chief accountants of to-be audited entities not being concurrently persons contributing capital to and having significant influence on the audit firm….
This Decision takes effect on September 29, 2017; and replaces Decision No. 03/2011/QD-KTNN of December 9, 2011.
