On March 18, Minister of Finance Ho Duc Phoc answered questions before the National Assembly Standing Committee. Deputy Pham Van Hoa (Dong Thap delegation) said that the country currently has 200 independent auditing companies. In the past, the companies have performed audits well, but there are also companies with errors and negative practices. For example, recently, 3 auditing companies committed violations in the SCB case. Could the Minister clarify the solution to resolve the above situation?
In response, Minister of Finance Ho Duc Phoc said that recently, independent auditing had some violations in some criminal cases related to many factors. Firstly, the capacity of auditors at auditing companies; secondly, the sense of responsibility of those who directly perform auditing work; thirdly, it does not rule out cases of collusion to intentionally violate the law to commit wrongdoing.
Regarding auditing work, the Ministry of Finance has directed and tightened the auditor stage. To be granted an auditor certificate, it is necessary to set conditions in accordance with the provisions of law, training and examination. Auditors have never passed the exam and passed more than 30% of the time, the highest year is only 30%. Thus, the auditing standards and auditing methods have been seriously promulgated by the Ministry of Finance.
In the coming time, the Ministry of Finance will continue to tighten the activities of auditing companies to re-examine the records, and if any violations are found, they will be strictly handled.
Currently, the country has 221 auditing companies, with 2,363 auditors. Compared to the ratio of other countries, it is still low and small. However, we focus on quality. As for auditors' violations due to weak capacity, possibly due to collusion, we will improve vocational training and improve professional culture to perform their duties well.
Regarding the violations of valuation companies, Mr. Phuc said that the whole country only has a few hundred valuation companies, and the Ministry of Finance also strictly manages the certification process for appraisers; the violations in the past were mainly due to the appraisers intentionally making mistakes.
“For example, land prices, if applied according to the surplus method, if investigated, the valuation is wrong, because assets formed in the future must go through many steps such as establishing, approving designs, making estimates, but when audited and inspected by the agency, they are not in accordance with regulations. Therefore, the cause is partly due to legal regulations, but also partly due to officials intentionally doing wrong, if they do wrong, they need to be disciplined or criminally prosecuted,” Mr. Phoc raised the issue.
However, Deputy Ta Van Ha (Quang Nam delegation) argued back and said that the recent past has shown that valuation companies not only play an important role in the economy, but in recent cases of violations, the role of valuation companies is also very important, responsible, or even aiding in lowering or raising prices.
Mr. Ha acknowledged that there are many reasons, but the important reason is that recently there has been an overheated increase in valuation enterprises, leading to complicity and violations. However, after handling the violations, they did not dare to do anything, causing difficulties in the operation of the economy. Therefore, the Minister said how much responsibility the Ministry has in this issue?, and what solutions will be provided to overcome the above limitations in the coming time?
In response, Mr. Phuc said that the Ministry of Finance granting licenses to many valuation companies is not entirely correct. Because there are only a few hundred valuation companies nationwide. Price appraisers with price certificates must be trained and then take exams.
In the past 3 years, there has not been a year that has exceeded 33% of the successful candidates. The management is very strict in licensing and operations. The violations in the past were mainly due to the appraisers. As for the SCB bank case, it is clear that the world's leading auditing companies such as Big4, Ernst & Young Vietnam (EY) and Deloitt; but the auditors at SCB bank all violated. It is clear that here it is due to the auditors and appraisers, not the management.
Besides, according to Mr. Phuc, it must be admitted that some documents still have loopholes for price appraisers to take advantage of. As for land prices applied according to the surplus method, anyone who comes back to check is wrong. Because assuming according to the investment rate, assets formed in the future must go through many steps such as establishing, approving designs, making estimates, but when the auditing and inspection agencies still cut 5-10%, let alone when assuming according to the investment rate. There are also projects that are not included in the investment rate of the Ministry of Construction, such as the investment projects of the Ministry of Construction do not have 3-4 basements, individual houses with floors 4 and above do not have them, only floors 1-3. Therefore, it is necessary to assume, but the assumption is not correct. Therefore, the reason is partly due to the provisions of the law, but also partly due to officials deliberately making mistakes. From the story of intentionally making mistakes, violations occur and must be disciplined or criminally prosecuted.
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