KUALA LUMPUR (March 12): The Securities Commission Malaysia (SC)’s Audit Oversight Board (AOB) has publicly reprimanded Nexia SSY PLT (AF 2009) and its audit partners, namely Michelle Yong Voon Sze and Jayapalasingam A/L Kandiah.

In a statement on Tuesday, the SC said that as the engagement partner responsible for the audit of a public interest entity (PIE), Yong failed to perform sufficient audit procedures and obtain sufficient audit evidence to support the basis for the qualified opinion in the auditor’s report.

It said this breach is a non-compliance with the relevant International Standards on Auditing as adopted by the Malaysian Institute of Accountants (MIA).

The regulator said the qualification related to certain agreements entered into by the PIE.

It said Yong failed to evaluate whether the impact of these agreements was pervasive or otherwise in the financial statements of the PIE and assess the legality and enforceability.

“In addition, Jayapalasingam, the engagement quality control reviewer, has failed to sufficiently review the selected audit documentation relating to significant judgements and significant risk areas of the engagement and basis of the conclusions reached, particularly the basis for the qualified opinion.

“With regard to Nexia, the audit firm was reprimanded for the quality of the engagement performance and non-compliance with the relevant requirements of the International Standard of Quality Control 1 as adopted by the MIA, specifically on file assembly and audit documentation,” said the SC.