MEMBERS OF THE AUDIT COMMITTEE
Cheung Hon Kit (Chairman of Audit Committee)
Li Xiao Ru
Zhang Ke
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TERMS OF REFERENCE OF AUDIT COMMITTEE
(the “Committee”)
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Membership
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1.
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The Committee
shall be appointed by the board of directors of
the Company (the “Board”) from amongst
the non-executive directors of the Company and
shall consist of not less than three members,
at least one of whom shall be an independent non-executive
director with appropriate professional qualifications
or accounting or related financial management
expertise as required under Rule 3.10(2) of The
Rules Governing the Listing of Securities on The
Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited (the “Listing
Rules”). |
2. |
The majority
of the members of the Committee shall be independent
non-executive directors of the Company. |
3. |
The Chairman
of the Committee shall be appointed by the Board
and shall be an independent non-executive director
of the Company. |
4. |
The term of membership
will be one year from the date of appointment
subject to renewal and shall be governed by the
provisions of the Articles of Association of the
Company (as amended from time to time). |
5. |
The appointment
of the members of the Committee may be revoked
and new members can be appointed in their stead
by resolutions passed by the Board and by the
Committee respectively. |
6. |
No alternate
member of any member of the Committee can be appointed. |
7. |
A former partner
of the Company's existing auditing firm should
be prohibited from acting as a member of the Company's
audit committee for a period of one year commencing
on the date of his ceasing to be a partner of
the firm or to have any financial interest in
the firm, whichever is the later. |
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Attendance at meetings
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8. |
The Chief Financial
Officer of the Company (or any officer(s) assuming
the relevant functions but having a different
designation) and a representative of the external
auditors of the Company shall normally attend
meetings of the Committee. Other members of Board
may be invited to attend a particular meeting
in order to answer specific points or concerns
of the Committee. Where an internal audit function
exists, the head of internal audit should normally
attend meetings. At least once a year the Committee
shall meet with the external and internal auditors
(if any) in the absence of any executive directors
of the Company. |
9. |
The Company Secretary
of the Company shall be the secretary of the Committee. |
Frequency and proceedings of meetings
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10. |
Meetings shall
be held not less than twice a year. Additional
meetings should be held as and when the work of
the Committee demands. |
11. |
The Chairman
of the Committee may convene additional meetings
at his discretion. |
12. |
The external
auditors may request a meeting with the Committee
if they consider it necessary. |
13. |
The quorum of
a meeting shall be two independent non-executive
directors. |
14. |
Proceedings of
meetings of the Committee shall be governed by
the relevant provisions of the Articles of Association
of the Company (as amended from time to time). |
Authority
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15. |
The Committee
is granted the authority to investigate any activity
within these terms of reference and to direct
all employees to cooperate as requested by members
of the Committee. |
16. |
The Committee
is authorized by the Board to obtain external
legal or other independent professional advice
if required by the Committee and to invite the
attendance of outsiders with relevant experience
and expertise if it considers necessary. |
17. |
The Committee
shall report to the Board on any suspected fraud
and irregularities, failures of internal control
or suspected breaches of laws, rules and regulations
which come to its attention in relation to the
matters set out in these terms of reference and
which are of sufficient importance to warrant
the attention of the Board. |
18. |
The Committee
is to be provided with sufficient resources to
discharge its duties. |
Responsibility
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19. |
The Committee
is to serve as a focal point for communication
between other directors, the external auditors
and the internal auditors (where an internal audit
function exists) of the Company as regards their
duties relating to financial and other reporting,
internal controls, external and internal audits
and such other financial and accounting matters
as the Board determines from time to time. |
20. |
The Committee
is to assist the Board in providing an independent
review of the effectiveness of the financial reporting
process, internal control and risk management
system of the Company and its subsidiaries (the
“Group”), overseeing the audit process
and performing other duties and responsibilities
as may be assigned by the Board from time to time. |
Duties, powers and functions
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21. |
The Committee
is to: |
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(a)
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be primarily
responsible for making recommendation to the Board
on the appointment, reappointment and removal
of the external auditor, and to approve the remuneration
and terms of engagement of the external auditor,
and any questions of resignation or dismissal
of that auditor; |
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(b) |
review and monitor
the external auditor’s independence and
objectivity and the effectiveness of the audit
process in accordance with applicable standards.
The Committee should discuss with the external
auditor the nature and scope of the audit and
reporting obligations before the audit process
commences; |
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(c) |
develop and
implement policy on the engagement of an external
auditor to supply non-audit services. For this
purpose, external auditor shall include any entity
that is under common control, ownership or management
with the audit from or any entity that a reasonable
and informed third party having knowledge of all
relevant information would reasonably conclude
as part of the audit firm nationally or internationally.
The Committee should report to the Board, identifying
any matters in respect of which it considers that
action or improvement is needed and making recommendations
as to the steps to be taken; |
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(d) |
monitor integrity
of financial statements of the Company and the
Company’s annual report and accounts, half-year
report and, if prepared for publication, quarterly
reports, and to review significant financial reporting
judgements contained in them. In this regard,
in reviewing the Company’s annual report
and accounts, half-year report and, if prepared
for publication, quarterly reports before submission
to the Board, the Committee should focus particularly
on:-
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(i) |
any changes in
accounting policies and practices; |
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(ii) |
major judgmental
areas; |
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(iii) |
significant
adjustments resulting from audit; |
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(iv) |
the going concern
assumptions and any qualifications; |
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(v) |
compliance with
accounting standards; and |
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(vi) |
compliance with
the Listing Rules and other legal requirements
in relation to financial reporting;
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(e)
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consider any
significant or unusual items that are, or may
need to be, reflected in such reports and accounts
and must give due consideration to any matters
that have been raised by the Company’s qualified
accountant, compliance officer or auditors; |
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(f)
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review the Company’s
financial controls, internal control and risk
management systems; |
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(g) |
discuss with
the management of the Company the system of internal
control and ensure that management has discharged
its duty to have an effective internal control
system; |
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(h) |
liaise with
the Board, senior management of the Company and
the person appointed as the Company's qualified
accountant and the Committee must meet, at least
once a year, with the Company's auditors; |
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(i) |
consider any
findings of major investigations of internal control
matters as delegated by the Board or on its own
initiative and management’s response; |
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(j) |
where an internal
audit function exists, to ensure co-ordination
between the internal and external auditors, and
to ensure that the internal audit function is
adequately resourced and has appropriate standing
within the Company, and to review and monitor
the effectiveness of the internal audit function; |
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(k) |
review the Group’s
financial and accounting policies and practices; |
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(l)
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review the external
auditor’s management letter, any material
queries raised by the auditor to management in
respect of the accounting records, financial accounts
or systems of control and management’s response; |
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(m) |
ensure that
the Board will provide a timely response to the
issues raised in the external auditor’s
management letter; |
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(n) |
be familiar,
through the individual efforts of its members,
with the financial reporting principles and practices
applied by the Group in preparing its financial
statements; |
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(o) |
review annually
the external auditors’ fees which have been
negotiated with management of the Company; |
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(p) |
review the extent
of any non-audit services provided by the external
auditors and consider whether the provision of
such services will impair their independence or
objectivity; |
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(q) |
review and consider
the budget or revised budget of the Company prepared
by the Board; |
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(r) |
evaluate the
level of cooperation provided by the Company to
the external auditors, including their access
to all requested records, data and information;
obtain comments of management of the Company regarding
the responsiveness of the external auditors to
the Group’s needs; make enquiries with the
external auditors as to whether there has been
any disagreements with management of the Company
which if not satisfactorily resolved would result
in the issue of a qualified report on the Group’s
financial statements; |
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(s)
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when the external
auditors supply a substantial volume of non-audit
services to the Group, to keep the nature and
extent of such services under review, seeking
to balance the maintenance of objectivity and
value for money; |
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(t)
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recommend to
the Board any appropriate extensions to, or changes,
in the duties of the Committee; |
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(u)
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meet with the
external auditors of the Company, at least annually,
in the absence of the management of the Company,
to discuss matters relating to its audit fees,
any issues arising from the audit and any other
matters the external auditors may wish to raise;
and |
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(v) |
consider other
topics, as defined or assigned by the Board from
time to time. |
Reporting Procedures
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21. |
The Committee
should report to the Board on a regular basis
on its decisions or recommendations. |
22. |
Full minutes
of the meetings of the Committee shall be kept
by the secretary of the Committee, who shall send
draft and final versions of minutes of meetings
and all written resolutions of the Committee to
all members of the Committee for their comment
and records respectively, in both cases within
a reasonable time after the meeting. |
23. |
At the next
meeting of the Board following a meeting of the
Committee, the Chairman of the Committee shall
report to the Board on the findings and recommendations
of the Committee. At least once annually, the
Committee should present a report in writing to
the Board which addresses the work and findings
of the Committee during the year. |