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1. Membership
1.1 The Committee shall be appointed by the board of directors of the Company (the
"Board") from amongst the non-executive directors of the Company and shall consist
of not less than three members, at least one of whom is an independent non-executive
director with appropriate professional qualifications or accounting or related financial
management expertise as required under the Listing Rules.
1.2 The majority of the Committee members must be independent non-executive directors
of the Company.
1.3 The Chairman of the Committee shall be appointed by the Board from amongst the
independent non-executive directors.
2. Secretary
2.1 The Company Secretary or his designate shall act as the secretary of the Committee.
3. Attendance at Meetings
3.1 The Financial Controller of the Group and representatives of external auditor
shall attend all meetings at the invitation of the Committee.
3.2 Other Board members shall also have the right of attendance. However, at least
once a year, the Committee shall meet with the external auditor without executive
directors present.
4. Frequency of Meetings
4.1 The Committee shall meet at least twice a year. Additional meetings shall be
held as the work of the Committee demands. Meetings may be held in person, by telephone
or by video conference.
4.2 External auditor may request a meeting if they consider that one is necessary.
5. Notice of Meetings
5.1 Meetings of the Committee shall be summoned by the secretary of the Committee
at the request of any member of the Committee.
6. Proceeding of Meetings
6.1 The quorum necessary for the transaction of business of the Committee shall
be two, of which both of them must be independent non-executive directors of the
Company.
6.2 In the case of any equality of votes, the Chairman of the Committee shall have
a casting vote.
7. Minutes of Meetings
7.1 The secretary shall minute the proceedings and resolutions of all Committee
meetings, including the names of those present and in attendance.
7.2 Minutes of Committee meetings shall be circulated promptly to all members of
the Committee within a reasonable time after the meeting and, once agreed, to all
other members of the Board.
8. Authority
8.1 The Committee is authorized by the Board to:
(a) review any activity within its terms of reference;
(b) obtain all information and explanations which its members consider necessary
to fulfill the duties of the Committee; and
(c) obtain outside legal or independent professional advice to assist the Committee
in their work, and such advisors may attend meetings as necessary.
9. Duties
9.1 The duties of the Committee shall be:
Relationship with the Company’s auditors
(a) to be primarily responsible for making recommendation to the Board on the appointment,
re-appointment and removal of the external auditor, and to approve the remuneration
and terms of engagement of the external auditor, and any questions of resignation
or dismissal of that auditor;
(b) to review and monitor the external auditor’s independence and objectivity and
the effectiveness of the audit process in accordance with applicable standard. The
Committee should discuss with the auditor the nature and scope of the audit and
reporting obligations before the audit commences;
(c) to develop and implement policy on the engagement of external auditor to supply
non-audit services. For this purpose, external auditor shall include any entity
that is under common control, ownership or management with the audit firm or any
entity that a reasonable and informed third party having knowledge of all relevant
information would reasonably conclude as part of the audit firm nationally or internationally.
The Committee should report to the Board, identifying any matters in respect of
which it considers that action or improvement is needed and making recommendations
as to the steps to be taken;
Review of financial information of the Company
(d) to monitor integrity of financial statements of the Company and its annual reports
and accounts, half-year reports and, if applicable, quarterly reports, and to review
significant financial reporting judgements contained in them. In this regard, in
reviewing the Company’s annual reports and accounts and half-year reports, and if
applicable, quarterly reports, before submission to the Board, the Committee should
focus particularly on:
- any changes in accounting policies and practices;
- major judgmental areas;
- significant adjustments resulting from audit;
- the going concern assumptions and any qualifications;
- compliance with accounting standards; and
- compliance with the Listing Rules and other legal requirements in relation to financial
reporting;
(e) In regard to (d) above:
- members of the Committee must liaise with the Board and senior management and the
Committee must meet, at least once a year, with the Company’s auditors; and
- the Committee should consider any significant or unusual items that are, or may
need to be, reflected in such reports and accounts and must give due consideration
to any matters that have been raised by the Company’s staff responsible for the
accounting and financial reporting function, compliance officer or auditors;
Oversight of the Company’s financial reporting system and internal control
procedures
(f) to review the Company’s financial controls, internal control and risk management
systems;
(g) to discuss with the management the system of internal control and ensure that
management has discharged its duty to have an effective internal control system
including the adequacy of resources, qualifications and experience of staff of the
Company’s accounting and financial reporting function, and their training programmes
and budget;
(h) to consider any findings of major investigations of internal control matters
as delegated by the Board or on its own initiative and management's response;
(i) to ensure co-ordination between the internal and external auditors, and to ensure
that the internal audit function is adequately resourced and has appropriate standing
within the Company, and to review and monitor the effectiveness of the internal
audit function;
(j) to review the group’s financial and accounting policies and practices;
(k) to review the external auditor’s management letter, any material queries raised
by the auditor to management in respect of the accounting records, financial accounts
or systems of control and management’s response;
(l) to ensure that the Board will provide a timely response to the issues raised
in the external auditor’s management letter;
(m) to report to the Board on the matters set out in the applicable code provision(s)
of the Code on Corporate Governance Practices (Appendix 14) of the Listing Rules;
and
(n) to consider other topics, as defined by the Board.
10. Reporting Responsibilities
10.1 The Committee shall make whatever recommendations to the Board it deems appropriate
or any area within its remit where action or improvement is needed.
10.2 The Committee shall report to the Board on any of the following irregularities
which come to its attention:
- suspected frauds and other irregularities;
- significant weaknesses in internal control and financial and other reporting;
- non-compliance with policies and procedures of the Company; or
- infringements of the applicable laws, rules and regulations.
10.3 The Committee shall, at least once a year, review its own performance, constitution
and terms of reference to ensure that it is operating at maximum effectiveness and
recommend any changes it considers necessary to the Board for approval.
10.4 The Chairman of the Committee, or failing him, any member of the Committee
shall attend the annual general meetings of the Company and shall answer questions
on the Committee’s activities and their responsibilities.
Adopted by the Board on 17 March 2009
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