Auditing continues to be 'stormy': After the Quoc Cuong Gia Lai case, a 'Big4' is also complained about

Novaland said it had to change the auditor for its 2024 financial statements because the auditor did not meet the necessary requirements to implement and ensure progress.

Investors and society rely on auditors to properly evaluate the financial statements of listed enterprises, but the quality of recent auditing units is a matter of concern - Photo: QUANG DINH

Why did Novaland change auditors?

No Va Real Estate Investment Group Corporation - Novaland (NVL) has just announced information about changing the auditing unit for financial statements in 2024.

Through practical work, Novaland assessed that the auditing services provided by PwC (Vietnam) Company Limited in the past did not meet the necessary requirements to perform and ensure the progress of auditing and reviewing financial statements according to regulations on information disclosure.

This directly led to Novaland delaying its information disclosure obligations at some point in 2023 and 2024, said Mr. Bui Thanh Nhon's group.

In addition, Novaland said that they and PwC have not yet agreed on the working schedule to issue the 2024 audit report in accordance with legal regulations.

Therefore, Novaland's Board of Directors has issued a Board of Directors resolution on terminating the audit contract signed with PwC to rotate the audit unit.

"The rotation of the audit unit is also a policy that has been put forward by Novaland's Board of Directors since the beginning of the year, within the group's implementation roadmap, to ensure the objectivity of the independent audit unit," said a representative of NVL.

Also in the above resolution, Novaland's Board of Directors selected Moore AISC Auditing and Informatics Services Co., Ltd. as the auditor for the group's 2024 financial statements.

Recently, auditing is the "key word" mentioned a lot in major cases such as Van Thinh Phat, FLC, Tan Hoang Minh.

At the same time, many auditors have recently been suspended or are about to be suspended by the Securities Commission related to the quality of audit services.

The auditing company that was "whistled" in the Quoc Cuong Gia Lai case is also related to the Saigon Dai Ninh scandal.

Most recently, the Securities Commission said it would suspend auditors of DFK Vietnam Auditing Company Limited 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 Securities Commission at DFK Vietnam Auditing Company Limited, the audit records show that the auditor has not fully performed the audit procedures.

The auditors who audited QCG's report also failed to obtain sufficient appropriate audit evidence to express an audit opinion as required by auditing standards, the Securities and Exchange Commission said.

Also related to DFK Vietnam, in the case of Mr. Nguyen Cao Tri, the investigation agency accused DFK auditors of signing and issuing an audit report on the situation of charter capital contributions of shareholders, determining the owner's capital contribution to be 2,000 billion VND despite insufficient evidence, and not working with the board of directors, general director board, and legal representative of Saigon Dai Ninh Company.

On its website, DFK Vietnam Auditing said it is one of the few auditing companies in Vietnam founded by auditors who have worked for many years for the world's leading auditing firms (Big4).

The firm also describes itself as an independent member of DFK International - an international network of audit and business advisory firms headquartered in the UK, comprising 219 member firms operating in 101 countries.

Currently, DFK Vietnam is headquartered in Tan Binh District, Ho Chi Minh City.

The legal representative and general director is Mr. Nguyen Luong Nhan, and the chairman of the board of directors is Mr. Pham The Hung.

Regarding the business situation, according to the report, DFK Vietnam's revenue in 2023 reached nearly 44 billion VND. Notably, for many years, other revenue accounted for the majority of the company's total revenue structure.

Before Quoc Cuong Gia Lai, some auditors auditing for other businesses such as VC2, Dong A Plastics... were also suspended.

Most recently, UHY auditors have also been suspended by the Securities Commission, including: Mr. Hoang Dinh Hai, Mr. Tran Hong Giang, Mr. Nguyen Minh Hung and Ms. Pham Thi Ngoc Tho...

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/kiem-toan-lien-tuc-song-gio-sau-vu-quoc-cuong-gia-lai-mot-big4-cung-bi-phan-nan-20241121080954188.htm