Recently, the State Securities Commission (SSC) issued a decision to suspend the status of auditor approved to audit public interest entities in the securities sector for Ernst & Young Vietnam Auditing Company Limited.

Accordingly, auditors Hang Nhat Quang and Ton Thien Bao Ngoc were suspended until the end of 2024.

However, the announcement of the State Securities Commission did not specify the reason why the two auditors of Ernst & Young Vietnam were suspended.

Ernst & Young Vietnam is one of the four major foreign-invested auditing firms established in Vietnam.

Previously, on November 11, the State Securities Commission also decided to suspend the status of auditor approved to audit public interest entities in the securities sector until the end of this year for Mr. Tran Dinh Vinh of KPMG Company Limited - one of the largest auditing companies in Vietnam.

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A real estate project of Quoc Cuong Gia Lai in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: TL

A few days ago, the State Securities Commission announced that it would suspend the auditors of DFK Vietnam Audit from signing the financial statements of Quoc Cuong Gia Lai Joint Stock Company (QCG). According to the results of the 2024 audit service quality inspection by the State Securities Commission at DFK Vietnam Audit, the audit records showed that the auditors had not fully performed the audit procedures and had not collected sufficient appropriate audit evidence to issue an audit opinion as required by auditing standards for the report at Quoc Cuong Gia Lai.

On November 12, the State Securities Commission also issued decisions to suspend the qualifications of auditors approved to audit public interest entities in the securities sector of DFK Vietnam Auditing Company Limited and Moore AISC Auditing and Informatics Services Company Limited.

Accordingly, Mr. Nguyen Anh Tuan, Mr. Le Huy Binh and Mr. Nguyen Van Tan of DFK Vietnam were suspended until the end of 2024. Auditor Phan Duc Danh of Moore AISC was also suspended for the same period.

In early October, the State Securities Commission issued a decision to suspend the status of auditors approved to audit public interest entities in the securities sector for four auditors of UHY Auditing and Consulting Company Limited (UHY).

The suspended auditors include: Deputy Director Hoang Dinh Hai, Deputy Director Nguyen Minh Hung, auditors Tran Hong Giang and Pham Thi Ngoc Tho. The suspension period is from September 20, 2024 to December 31, 2024.

In which, Mr. Nguyen Minh Hung and Ms. Pham Thi Ngoc Tho signed financial reports for Dong A Plastic Group Joint Stock Company and Tien Son Thanh Hoa Group Joint Stock Company.

Last July, the State Securities Commission issued a decision to suspend the status of auditors approved to audit public interest entities for auditors of Deloitte Vietnam Auditing Company Limited.

The suspended list includes auditors Pham Hoai Nam, Le Dinh Tu, Do Hong Duong, and Tran Van Dang. The suspension period starts from June 25 until the end of 2024. Of which, Mr. Le Dinh Tu is the deputy general director of Deloitte Vietnam who signed the audit report of SCB for the 2019 semi-annual period.

The recent suspension of many auditors by the State Securities Commission aims to improve the quality of independent auditors after discovering many serious violations in major cases such as SCB, Van Thinh Phat and FLC, when dishonest audit reports contributed to violations.

The draft amendment to the Law on Independent Auditing, which is seeking public opinion, also proposes to increase the fine for violations by 20 times the current level and extend the statute of limitations for handling violations from 2 years to 5 years, in order to further tighten audit quality.