Country
Singapore
1. Organization Insert the name of the Organization, both in the local language and in English
Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA)
Include the basis for establishment and the mission/responsibilities and
authority re auditing
ACRA’s mission is to provide a responsive and trusted regulatory
environment for businesses and public accountants 1 (also defined as
“statutory auditors”). With regard to public accountants and financial
reporting, ACRA’s objectives are to:

Promote high quality auditing

Promote high quality financial disclosure

Build market confidence in the quality of Singapore’s auditors
To assist ACRA with the regulation of public accountants, ACRA
appoints the Public Accountants Oversight Committee (PAOC) under the
Accountants Act. The PAOC is accountable to ACRA for registration,
monitoring, investigating and disciplining public accountants and their
accounting entities, and prescribing the standards to be applied by the
public accountants when providing public accountancy services and the
codes of professional conduct and ethics.
2. Board
Composition
and Members
Describe the current composition of the Board, the requirements for the Board
members. Also include whether there is a cooling-off period for former
auditors/practitioners.
The Minister for Finance appoints the ACRA Board. With the approval
of the Minister, the Board appoints ACRA’s Chief Executive, who is also
a Board member. The Board must consist of 11 to 16 members of which
one shall be a public accountant and another shall be a non-practising
accountant to be selected by the Minister from a list of at least two public
accountants and two non-practising accountants, respectively, nominated
by the designated professional accountancy body 2 . The current Board
comprises individuals from the business, investment and regulation
communities, the legal and audit profession, as well as users of financial
reporting. The majority of ACRA Board is made up of non-practitioners,
A “public accountant” means a person who is registered or deemed to be registered in accordance with the
Accountants Act as a public accountant.
2
Currently designated as the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Singapore (ICPAS)
1
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and hence is independent of the audit profession. The Chairman and
other members hold office for such period and on such terms and
conditions as the Minister may determine, and are eligible for reappointment.
ACRA Board Members (effective 1st April 2013)
1. Ms Lim Soo Hoon (Chairman)
- Permanent Secretary
(Finance)(Performance), Ministry of Finance
2. Mr Kenneth Yap - Chief Executive, ACRA
3. Mr Sajjad Akhtar – Managing Partner , PKF-CAP LLP
4. Ms Chua Geok Wah - Accountant-General, Accountant General’s
Department
5. Prof. Ho Yew Kee – Vice Dean, Finance and Administration, National
University of Singapore Business School
6. Mr Ho Meng Kit – Chief Executive Officer, Singapore Business
Federation
7. Mr Lawrence Kwan –Chairman, The Singapore Association of the
Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators
8. Mr Lee Kim Shin – Partner, Allen & Gledhill LLP
9. Mr Alan Rupert Nisbet - Company Director
10. Mr Ong Wee Kiat Philip – Deputy CEO/Senior Director, National
Research Foundation
11. Mr. Ong Yew Huat – Company Director
12. Mr Lee Chuan Teck – Assistant Managing Director, Capital Markets
Group, Monetary Authority of Singapore
13. Professor Tan Cheng Han – Professor, Faculty of Law, National
University of Singapore
14. Mr Yap Chee Keong – Executive Director, The Straits Trading
Company Limited
15. Mr Yeoh Oon Jin – Executive Chairman, PricewaterhouseCoopers
LLP
ACRA appoints PAOC members from amongst the Board, with the
approval of the Minister. ACRA ensures the PAOC’s independence from
the audit profession by ensuring that the majority of PAOC votes reside
with non-practitioners. The Accountants Act provides that, in the case of
an equality of votes, the Chairman of the PAOC shall have a casting vote.
The current Chairman of the PAOC is a non-practitioner who is a
former Supreme Court judge. PAOC members hold office for periods
not exceeding three years and are eligible for reappointment.
PAOC Members
1. Professor Tan Cheng Han (Chairman)
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2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Mr Sajjad Akhtar
Ms Chua Geok Wah
Mr Alan Rupert Nisbet
Mr Ong Yew Huat
Mr Yap Chee Keong
Mr Yeoh Oon Jin
Are the majority of the governing body non-practitioners
X
3. Funding
arrangements
Yes
No
Describe the main funding arrangements, including the setting and approval
of the budget and the fees, if any.
ACRA is a statutory body established by Act of Parliament. The funds
and property of ACRA are set out in section 13 of the Accounting and
Corporate Regulatory Authority Act. In practice, ACRA is self-funding.
Its main sources of income are from statutory fees payable under the
Acts administered by ACRA (including filing and registration fees and
from provision of information services). Practice monitoring fees
recovered from audit inspections form an insignificant proportion of
aggregate income. ACRA’s funding is not reliant on, and cannot be
reasonably influenced by, the audit profession.
Is the funding free from undue influence by the profession
X
4. Inspection
system
Yes
No
Describe whether inspections are performed by the Member body, or, whether
or not in part, by any other organization. If so, also describe the arrangements
for overseeing these inspections.
ACRA inspects the work of auditors through the Practice Monitoring
Programme (PMP), which is governed by the Accountants Act and is
designed to ascertain whether a public accountant/auditor has complied
with the prescribed standards, methods, procedures and other
requirements when providing public accountancy services 3 .
All
individual auditors are subject to regular audit inspections.
The PAOC administers the PMP through the Practice Monitoring SubCommittee (PMSC), which is established under the Accountants Act.
3
"Public accountancy services" means the audit and reporting on financial statements and the doing of such other
acts that are required by any written law to be done by a public accountant.
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Where it finds that a public accountant has not met the required
standards, it can take various actions including de-registration,
suspension for up to two years, subjecting the public accountant to
review/supervision by another public accountant, or warning letters.
Since 2005, the PMP has focused on public accountants who audit public
interest entities. Public interest entities would include:
(a) Companies listed on the Singapore Stock Exchange and
companies wishing to list on the Exchange by way of an initial
public offering;
(b) Companies in regulated industries such as banks and insurance
companies; and
(c) Other entities which raise funds from the public such as charities.
For auditors of non-public interest entities, a number of employees of the
national professional accountancy body (Institute of Certified Public
Accountants of Singapore or ICPAS) have been appointed by the PAOC
as reviewers to carry out the reviews under an arrangement whereby the
work of the ICPAS reviewers would be subject to quality oversight by
ACRA. The PAOC retains oversight and final decisions in relation to
these reviews.
Describe the requirements and practices regarding the frequency of
inspections.
The PMP is conducted for the Big-Four public accounting firms on
average of at least once every 2 years. For other public accounting
entities which audit PIEs, practice reviews are conducted on average of at
least once every 2-3 years. The practice review cycle for public
accounting entities which do not have PIEs engagements is about once
every 4 years.
Do you have the responsibility for recurring inspections of audit firms
undertaking audits of public interest entities
X
Yes
No
Is this responsibility directly or through oversight of inspection undertaken by
professional bodies
X
Directly
Through oversight
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5. Audit and
Financial
Market
Describe the number of audit firms subject to inspections. Include an
indication of the number of public interest audits and other audits in the
jurisdiction. Please give some indication of the size and market share of each
of the largest audit firms.
As at 31st December 2012, there were 519 public accounting firms, 66
public accounting corporations and 45 accounting limited liability
partnerships and 991 public accountants registered with ACRA.
As at 31st December 2012, there were 776 public listed companies in
Singapore.
The Big-4 collectively accounts for approximately 58% of the audit of
public companies listed in Singapore, while local medium-sized and
smaller-sized accounting firms take up 30%.
6. Main other
tasks
performed by
Member
Describe whether the Member also performs other tasks, such as registration,
education, standard setting and enforcement in the area of auditing, or other
supervisory tasks, such as supervision of financial reporting or securities
regulation.
ACRA/ PAOC’s other statutory responsibilities in respect of public
accountants and financial statements include:

Determining, prescribing and reviewing the requirements to be
satisfied by people seeking to be registered as public accountants;

Approving of accounting corporations, accounting firms, and
accounting limited liability partnerships;

Administering the continuing professional education programmes
for public accountants;

Determining, prescribing and reviewing the codes of professional
conduct and ethics for public accountants and the standards,
methods and procedures to be applied by public accountants when
providing public accountancy services;

Inquiring into any complaint, or information relating to any
professional misconduct, against any public accountant,
accounting corporation, accounting firm or accounting limited
liability partnership, and, if necessary, institute disciplinary
proceedings in accordance with the Accountants Act;

Setting auditing standards (known as Singapore Standards on
Auditing (SSAs), which are essentially based on IAASB’s
International Standards on Auditing (ISAs)) in Singapore; and
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
Supervision of corporate financial reporting under the Companies
Act through its financial reporting surveillance programme of
public listed companies in Singapore.
Generally, ACRA's functions are set out in section 6 of the Accounting
and Corporate Regulatory Authority Act.
These include the
administering the following Acts (aside from the Accountants Act):
(a) the Business Registration Act;
(b) the Companies Act;
(c) the Limited Liability Partnerships Act; and
(d) the Limited Partnerships Act.
7. Other
information
Include relevant contact information, including postal address, telephone
numbers, a link to the website and other relevant information.
Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority
10 Anson Road #05-01/15
International Plaza
Singapore 079903
Telefax: (65) 6225 1676
URL: www.acra.gov.sg
Key Contact Person: Mr David Turner Tel: (65) 63250747
Email: David_Turner@acra.gov.sg
8. Major
Events and
Activities
Include the major events and activities that have taken place during the past
years
ACRA’s 2012 highlights included:
Public Accountants Conference – This is an annual conference organised
by ACRA which focuses on issues of strategic importance to Singapore's
auditing and financial reporting environment, and includes reporting on
important issues arising from ACRA's regulatory and monitoring
activities. The theme of the 2012 PAC was: Enhancing Productivity and
Quality in the Accounting Profession
PMP Public Report - ACRA publishes an annual report of its inspection
findings, on an aggregated basis. These reports are published on ACRA's
website and are released each year at ACRA's Public Accountants
Conference.
ACRA issued a public consultation paper on proposals to amend the
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Accountants Act which governs the regulation of public accountants in
Singapore.
ACRA commissioned the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants
(ACCA) to perform an in-depth survey on “Talent Attraction and
Retention in Larger Accounting Firms”, which solicited views from audit
staff on what gives them job satisfaction and what will make them stay
or go. Respondents indicated that much of the dissatisfaction in a career
of external audit relates to the imbalance in workload and rewards,
which they attribute to unsatisfactory financial reports prepared by
clients and clients paying fees that do not appropriately reflect the true
value of an audit.
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