Singapore legislation
Section 81
Section 81
Auditors
(1)
A person must not consent in writing to be appointed, and must not knowingly act, as auditor for any registered business trust and must not prepare, for or on behalf of a registered business trust, any report required by this Act to be prepared by an auditor of the registered business trust —
if the person is not a public accountant;
if the person is indebted to the trustee‑manager of the registered business trust or to a related corporation of the trustee‑manager in an amount exceeding $2,500;
if the person is —
an officer of the trustee‑manager;
a partner, an employer or an employee of an officer of the trustee‑manager; or
a partner or an employee of an employee of an officer of the trustee‑manager; or
if the person is responsible for or if the person is the partner, employer or employee of a person responsible for the keeping of the register of unitholders of the registered business trust.
(2)
Any person who contravenes subsection (1) shall be guilty of an offence.
(3)
For the purposes of subsection (1), a person is deemed to be an officer of the trustee‑manager of a registered business trust if the person is an officer of a related corporation of the trustee‑manager except where the Authority, if it thinks fit in the circumstances of the case, directs otherwise, if the person has, at any time within the preceding period of 12 months, been an officer or a promoter of the trustee‑manager or of such a corporation.
(4)
For the purposes of this section, a person is not to be deemed to be an officer by reason only of the person having been appointed as auditor of a trustee‑manager or auditor of a registered business trust.
(5)
An accounting firm must not consent in writing to be appointed, and must not knowingly act, as auditor for a registered business trust and must not prepare, for or on behalf of a registered business trust, any report required by this Act to be prepared by an auditor of the registered business trust if any partner of the firm (whether or not the partner is a public accountant) is a person described in subsection (1)(b), (c) or (d).
(6)
If an accounting firm contravenes subsection (5), every partner of the firm shall be guilty of an offence.
(7)
An accounting corporation must not consent in writing to be appointed, and must not knowingly act, as auditor for a registered business trust and must not prepare, for or on behalf of a registered business trust, any report required by this Act to be prepared by an auditor of the registered business trust if —
any director of the corporation (whether or not he or she is a public accountant); or
any employee of the corporation, who is a public accountant and practising as such in that corporation,is a person described in subsection (1)(b), (c) or (d).
(8)
If an accounting corporation contravenes subsection (7) —
the corporation; and
the director or employee who caused the contravention,shall be guilty of an offence.
(9)
A trustee‑manager of a registered business trust or person must not appoint any individual as auditor of the registered business trust unless the individual has prior to such appointment consented in writing to act as auditor of that registered business trust.
(10)
A trustee‑manager of a registered business trust or person must not appoint any accounting firm or accounting corporation as auditor of the registered business trust unless the firm or corporation has prior to such appointment consented, in writing under the hand of at least one partner of the firm or director of the corporation (as the case may be) to act as auditor of that registered business trust.
(11)
Where an accounting firm is appointed as the auditor of a registered business trust in the name of the firm, such appointment takes effect and operates as if the partners of the firm at the time of the appointment, who are public accountants at that time, have been appointed as auditors of the registered business trust.
(12)
Where an accounting corporation is appointed as the auditor of a registered business trust in the name of the corporation, such appointment takes effect and operates as if the directors and employees of the corporation who are practising as public accountants in that corporation have been appointed as auditors of the registered business trust.
(13)
Subsection (12) applies to a director or an employee practising as a public accountant in an accounting corporation, even if his or her appointment as director or employment with the corporation commenced after the date on which the corporation was appointed as auditor of the registered business trust.
(14)
In this section —
Definition
“accounting corporation” means a company approved or deemed to be approved as an accounting corporation under the Accountants Act 2004;
Definition
“accounting firm” means a firm approved or deemed to be approved as an accounting firm under the Accountants Act 2004.