Audit regulations regarding SOEs and PIEs unveiled

Two regulations pertaining to the audit of State-owned Enterprises (SOEs) and Public Interest Entities (PIEs) have been unveiled.

The regulations were unveiled during a special ceremony at the Auditor General’s Office by Finance Minister Ahmed Ameer.

Speaking at the unveiling ceremony, Auditor General, President of Institute of Chartered Accountants of the Maldives (ICA) Hussain Niyaazy said that both regulations were formulated under a new strategy by the Auditor’s General Office and ICA Maldives.

“In all honesty, there is no space for the institution to conduct an independent financial statement audit I sign financial statements in the capacity of the Auditor General – whilst I also am the President of ICA Maldives,” he explained.

Therefore, Niyaazy said that a company’s board will be appointing the auditors to audit the company’s financial statement – whereas the Auditor General’s Office will monitor whether such audits are conducted in line with best practices.

“The SEO regulation will apply to companies that have 50 percent government shares or more. We are bringing an exception within this to public limited companies and private limited companies,” he added.

Niyaazy said that with the new changes, audit reports will be formulated for the financial statements of SEOs. Additionally, a timeframe will be specified to hand over the financial reports to the auditors.

Minister Ahmed Ameer also spoke at the ceremony. He stressed the importance of the public being aware of the financial standing of companies with government shares.

“It is very important for the public to have good knowledge of the financial standing of companies with government shares. This regulation will accelerate the audit of companies with government shares – in addition to assist in making them more accountable,” Minister Ameer had said.

Vice President of the Privatization and Corporatization Board Asim Mohamed also spoke at the ceremony. Noting that receiving complaints with regard to delays in getting the audit report by the Audit Office is common – Asim said that companies with government shares must take responsibility to conduct their own audit.

“The regulation makes companies with government shares accountable for their own audit and also paves way for them to be made accountable for the failure to complete the audit,” he had said.