Singapore legislation
Schedule 3
Schedule 3
Financial Provisions
THIRD SCHEDULESection 17Financial Provisions
1. The financial year of the Board shall begin on 1st January and end on 31st December of each year.
2. The Board shall keep proper accounts and records of its transactions and affairs and shall do all things necessary to ensure that all payments out of its moneys are correctly made and properly authorised and that adequate control is maintained over the assets of, or in the custody of, the Board and over the expenditure incurred by the Board.
3. The Board shall keep separate accounts in respect of the water undertaking and the regulatory functions of the Board.
4. The accounts of the Board shall be audited by the Auditor-General or by an auditor appointed annually by the Minister in consultation with the Auditor-General.
5. A person shall not be qualified for appointment as an auditor under paragraph 4 unless he is an approved company auditor under the Companies Act [Cap. 50].
6. The remuneration of the auditor shall be paid out of the funds of the Board.
7. The Board shall, as soon as practicable after the close of the financial year, prepare and submit the financial statements in respect of that year to the auditor who shall audit and report on them.
8. The auditor shall in his report state —
whether the financial statements show fairly the financial transactions and the state of affairs of the Board;
whether proper accounting and other records have been kept including records of all assets of the Board whether purchased, donated or otherwise;
whether the receipts, expenditure and investment of moneys and the acquisition and disposal of assets by the Board during the year have been in accordance with this Act; and
such other matters arising from the audit as he considers should be reported.
9. The auditor shall, as soon as practicable after the accounts have been submitted for audit, send a report of his audit to the Minister and to the Board, and shall also submit such periodical and special reports to the Minister and to the Board as may appear to him to be necessary or as the Minister or the Board may require.
10. The auditor or any person authorised by him is entitled at any reasonable time to full and free access to all accounting and other records relating, directly or indirectly, to the financial transactions of the Board.
11. The auditor or a person authorised by him may make copies of or make extracts from any such accounting and other records.
12. The auditor or any person authorised by him may require any person to furnish him with such information in the possession of that person or to which that person has access as the auditor or any duly authorised person considers necessary for the purposes of his functions under this Act.
13. Any person who fails, without any reasonable cause, to comply with any requirement of the auditor or authorised person under paragraph 12 or who otherwise hinders, obstructs or delays the auditor or authorised person in the performance of his functions under this Act shall be guilty of- an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $1,000 and, in the case of a continuing offence, to a further fine not exceeding $250 for every day or part thereof during which the offence continues after conviction.
14. As soon as the accounts of the Board and the financial statements have been audited in accordance with this Act, a copy of the audited financial statements signed by the Chairman and the Chief Executive, together with a copy of any report made by the auditor, shall be submitted to-the Minister.
15. Where the Auditor-General is not appointed as the auditor, a copy of the audited financial statements and any report made by the auditor shall be forwarded to the Auditor-General at the same time they are submitted to the Board.
16. The Minister shall as soon as practicable cause a copy of the audited financial statements and of the auditor’s report to be presented to Parliament.