Eight Auditing Firms Allowed to Operate on Stock Exchange

The State Securities Commission (SSC) has granted licences to eight auditing companies to issue and trade securities on the stock exchange in 2005-2006.

 

Of the auditing firms, five are domestic, including the Vietnam Auditing (VACO), Auditing and Consultant (A&C), Auditing and Accounting Services (AASC), Auditing and Financial Consulting (AFC), and Auditing and Informatics Services (AISC), and three others are foreign-invested firms, including the KPMG, Earnst & Young and PricewaterhouseCoopers.

 

Auditing companies play an important role because demand is increasing among investors for accurate and transparent financial information about the companies offering shares or other securitized assets, a SSC official said.

 

In order to provide auditing services, companies have to satisfy certain regulatory requirements. A domestic auditing company must have a registered capital of at least VND2 billion (US$127,000) while a foreign firm has at least US$300,000.

 

Both domestic and foreign firms are also required to have at least 10 qualified auditors on staff and have at least five years of business and financial consulting experience in Vietnam. They must also have a strong reputation and a proven track record of financial consulting in various economic sectors in order to receive auditing approval.

 

These requirements are in line with international standards.

 

The SSC annually evaluates the technical qualifications and recent performance of auditing companies before licensing them to conduct securities-related financial consulting and auditing activities in the coming year.
VNS, Vietnam Financial Times