Clause 4

by deleting the words “approved company auditor” in the 5th line of subsection (1) and substituting the words “auditor of the company”;

by deleting the words “an approved company auditor” in subsection (1)(a) and substituting the words “a public accountant”; and

by deleting subsections (5), (6), (7) and (8) and substituting the following subsections:“(5) An accounting firm shall not knowingly consent to be appointed, and shall not knowingly act, as auditor for any company and shall not prepare, for or on behalf of a company, any report required by this Act to be prepared by an auditor of the company if any partner of the firm (whether or not he 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 and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $2,000.(7) An accounting corporation shall not knowingly consent to be appointed, and shall not knowingly act, as auditor for any company and shall not prepare, for or on behalf of a company, any report required by this Act to be prepared by an auditor of the company if —

any director of the corporation (whether or not he 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 and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $2,000.(9) No company or person shall appoint any individual as auditor of a company unless the individual has prior to such appointment consented in writing to act as auditor of that company.(10) No company or person shall appoint any accounting firm or accounting corporation as auditor of a company 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 company.(11) Where an accounting firm is appointed as the auditor of a company in the name of the firm, such appointment shall take effect and operate 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 company.(12) Where an accounting corporation is appointed as the auditor of a company in the name of the corporation, such appointment shall take effect and operate 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 company.(13) Subsection (12) shall apply to a director or an employee practising as a public accountant in an accounting corporation, even if his appointment as director or employment with the corporation commenced after the date on which the corporation was appointed as auditor of the company.(14) In this section —“accounting corporation” means a company approved or deemed to be approved as an accounting corporation under the Accountants Act 2004;“accounting firm” means a firm approved or deemed to be approved as an accounting firm under the Accountants Act 2004.”.