Powers and duties of auditors as to reports on financial statements
207.—(1)  An auditor of a company shall report to the members —
(a)on the financial statements required to be laid before the company in general meeting and on the company’s accounting and other records relating to those financial statements; and
(b)where the company is a parent company for which consolidated financial statements are prepared, on the consolidated financial statements.
[Act 36 of 2014 wef 01/07/2015]
(1A)  A report by an auditor of a company under subsection (1) shall be furnished by the auditor to the directors of the company in sufficient time to enable the company to comply with the requirements of section 203(1) in relation to that report but no offence shall be committed by an auditor under this subsection if the directors have not submitted the financial statements for audit as required under this Part in sufficient time, having regard to the complexity of the financial statements, for the auditor to make his report.
[13/87]
[Act 36 of 2014 wef 01/07/2015]
(2)  An auditor shall, in a report under this section, state —
(a)whether the financial statements and, if the company is a parent company for which consolidated financial statements are prepared, the consolidated financial statements are in his opinion —
(i)in compliance with the requirements of the Accounting Standards; and
(ii)give a true and fair view of —
(A)the financial position and performance of the company; and
(B)if consolidated financial statements are required, the financial position and performance of the group;
[Act 36 of 2014 wef 01/07/2015]
(aa)if the financial statements or consolidated financial statements do not comply with any requirement of the Accounting Standards and the approval of the Registrar under section 201(12) to such non-compliance has not been obtained, whether such non-compliance is, in the opinion of the auditor, necessary for the financial statements or consolidated financial statements to give a true and fair view of any matter required by section 201 to be dealt with in them;
[Act 36 of 2014 wef 01/07/2015]
(b)whether the accounting and other records required by this Act to be kept by the company and, if it is a parent company, by the subsidiary corporations other than those of which he has not acted as auditor have been, in his opinion, properly kept in accordance with this Act;
[Act 36 of 2014 wef 01/07/2015]
(c)[Deleted by Act 5 of 2004]
(d)any defect or irregularity in the financial statements or consolidated financial statements and any matter not set out in the financial statements or consolidated financial statements without regard to which a true and fair view of the matters dealt with by the financial statements or consolidated financial statements would not be obtained; and
[Act 36 of 2014 wef 01/07/2015]
(e)if he is not satisfied as to any matter referred to in paragraph (a), (aa) or (b), his reasons for not being so satisfied.
[12/2002; 5/2004]
(3)  It is the duty of an auditor of a company to form an opinion as to each of the following matters:
(a)whether he has obtained all the information and explanations that he required;
(b)whether proper accounting and other records, excluding registers, required to be kept under section 199(1), have been kept by the company as required by this Act;
[Act 36 of 2014 wef 01/07/2015]
(c)whether the returns received from branch offices of the company are adequate;
(d)[Deleted by Act 36 of 2014 wef 01/07/2015]
(e)where consolidated financial statements are prepared otherwise than as one set of consolidated financial statements for the group, whether he agrees with the reasons for preparing them in the form in which they are prepared, as given by the directors in the financial statements,
[Act 36 of 2014 wef 01/07/2015]
and he shall state in his report particulars of any deficiency, failure or short-coming in respect of any matter referred to in this subsection.
[13/87; 12/2002]
(4)  An auditor shall not be required to form an opinion in his report as to whether the accounting and other records of subsidiary corporations (which are not incorporated in Singapore) of a Singapore parent company have been kept in accordance with this Act.
[15/84]
[Act 36 of 2014 wef 01/07/2015]
(5)  An auditor of a company has a right of access at all times to the accounting and other records, including registers, of the company, and is entitled to require from any officer of the company and any auditor of a related company such information and explanations as he desires for the purposes of audit.
(6)  An auditor of a parent company for which consolidated financial statements are required has a right of access at all times to the accounting and other records, including registers, of any subsidiary corporation, and is entitled to require from any officer or auditor of any subsidiary corporation, at the expense of the parent company, such information and explanations in relation to the affairs of the subsidiary corporation as he requires for the purpose of reporting on the consolidated financial statements.
[Act 36 of 2014 wef 01/07/2015]
(7)  The auditor’s report shall be attached to or endorsed on the financial statements or consolidated financial statements and shall, if any member so requires, be read before the company in general meeting and shall be open to inspection by any member at any reasonable time.
[Act 36 of 2014 wef 01/07/2015]
(8)  An auditor of a company or his agent authorised by him in writing for the purpose is entitled to attend any general meeting of the company and to receive all notices of, and other communications relating to, any general meeting which a member is entitled to receive, and to be heard at any general meeting which he attends on any part of the business of the meeting which concerns the auditor in his capacity as auditor.
(9)  If an auditor, in the course of the performance of his duties as auditor of a company, is satisfied that —
(a)there has been a breach or non-observance of any of the provisions of this Act; and
(b)the circumstances are such that in his opinion the matter has not been or will not be adequately dealt with by comment in his report on the financial statements or consolidated financial statements or by bringing the matter to the notice of the directors of the company or, if the company is a subsidiary company, of the directors of the parent company,
[Act 36 of 2014 wef 01/07/2015]
he shall immediately report the matter in writing to the Registrar.
(9A)  Notwithstanding subsection (9), if an auditor of a public company or a subsidiary corporation of a public company, in the course of the performance of his duties as auditor, has reason to believe that a serious offence involving fraud or dishonesty is being or has been committed against the company by officers or employees of the company, he shall immediately report the matter to the Minister.
[40/89]
[Act 36 of 2014 wef 01/07/2015]
(9B)  No duty to which an auditor of a company may be subject shall be regarded as having been contravened by reason of his reporting the matter referred to in subsection (9A) in good faith to the Minister.
[40/89]
(9C)  An auditor who is under a legal duty under any other written law to make a report to the Monetary Authority of Singapore in relation to an offence involving fraud or dishonesty that he becomes aware in the course of the performance of his duties as auditor, shall not be required to make a report to the Minister under subsection (9A) if he has already made a report in relation to the same offence under that written law to the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
[40/89]
(9D)  In subsection (9A), “a serious offence involving fraud or dishonesty” means —
(a)an offence that is punishable by imprisonment for a term that is not less than 2 years; and
(b)the value of the property obtained or likely to be obtained from the commission of such an offence is not less than $100,000.
[40/89]
[Act 36 of 2014 wef 01/07/2015]
(10)  An officer of a corporation who refuses or fails without lawful excuse to allow an auditor of the corporation or an auditor of a corporation who refuses or fails without lawful excuse to allow an auditor of its parent company access, in accordance with this section, to any accounting and other records, including registers, of the corporation in his custody or control, or to give any information or explanation as and when required under this section, or otherwise hinders, obstructs or delays an auditor in the performance of his duties or the exercise of his powers, shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $4,000.
[15/84]
[Aust., 1961, s. 167]
[Act 36 of 2014 wef 01/07/2015]
(11)  The reference to the registers of —
(a)a company in subsection (5);
(b)a subsidiary corporation of a parent company in subsection (6); or
(c)a corporation in subsection (10),
does not include any register kept by the company, subsidiary corporation of a parent company or corporation, as the case may be, under Part XIA.
[Act 15 of 2017 wef 31/03/2017]