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1. The Board is primarily accountable to the shareholders and Management
is primarily accountable to the Board. The Board should provide
the shareholders with a balanced and understandable assessment of
the corporation's performance, position and prospects on a quarterly
basis. The Management should provide all members of the Board with
a balanced and understandable account of the corporation's performance,
position and prospects on a monthly basis. This responsibility should
extend to interim and other price sensitive public reports and reports
to regulators (if required). It should be primarily responsible
in making financial reporting and internal control in accordance
with the following guidelines:
a. Present a balanced and understandable assessment of the company's
position and prospects. The Board's responsibility to present a
balanced and understandable assessment should extend to interim
and other price-sensitive public reports and reports to regulators
as well as to information required to be presented by statutory
requirements;
b. Explain their responsibility for preparing the accounts, for
which there should be a statement by the auditors about their reporting
responsibilities;
c. Report that the business is a going concern, with supporting
assumptions or qualifications, if necessary;
d. Maintain a sound system of internal control to safeguard stakeholders'
investment and the company's assets;
e. Based on the approved audit plans, scope and frequency of audits,
ensure that internal audit examinations cover, at least, the evaluation
of adequacy and effectiveness of controls encompassing the organization's
governance, operations, information systems, to include reliability
and integrity of financial and operational information, effectiveness
and efficiency of operations, safeguarding of assets, and compliance
with laws, rules, regulations, and contracts.
f. Require the chief audit executive to render to the Audit Committee
and senior management an annual report on the internal audit department's
activity, purpose, authority, responsibility and performance relative
to the audit plans and strategies approved by the Audit Committee
of the Board. Such annual report should include significant risk
exposures and control issues, corporate governance issues, and other
matters needed or requested by the Board and senior management.
The chief audit executive's annual report shall likewise be made
available to the stockholders of the company. Internal auditors
shall report that their activities are "conducted in accordance
with the Standards for the Professional Practice of Internal Auditing".
Otherwise, the chief audit executive shall disclose to the Board
and senior management that it has not yet achieved full compliance
with the standards for the professional practice of internal auditing.
2. Selection/Appointment, Resignation, Dismissal or Cessation of
Service of an External Auditor
The Board, through the Audit Committee, shall recommend to the
stockholders a duly accredited external auditor who shall undertake
an independent audit and shall provide an objective assurance on
the way in which financial statements shall have been prepared and
presented. Such external auditor cannot at the same time provide
the services of an internal auditor to the same client. Other non-audit
work should not be in conflict with the functions of the external
auditor.
The external auditor should be rotated every five (5) years or
earlier or the handling partner shall be changed.
The reason/s for the resignation, dismissal or cessation from service
and the date thereof of an external auditor shall be reported in
the company's annual and current reports. Said report shall include
a discussion of any disagreement with said former external auditor
on any matter of accounting principles or practices, financial statement
disclosure or auditing scope or procedure, which if not resolved
to the satisfaction of the former auditor, would have cause making
reference to the subject matter of the disagreement in connection
with its report.
If an external auditor believes that the statements made in an
annual report, information statement or proxy statement filed during
his engagement are incorrect or incomplete, he shall also present
his views in said reports.
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