Quality Control

Full Compliance with ISQC 1

PricewaterhouseCoopers Aarata considers quality to comprise of six elements: leadership; ethics and independence; acceptance and continuance of client relationships and specific engagements; human resources and education; engagement performance and support structures; and monitoring. These quality components are necessary to meet the demands and expectations of all stakeholders, including securities markets, and also conform to ISQC 1* standards. To secure the desired level of quality, PricewaterhouseCoopers Aarata’s quality control system is based on the following three lines of defence: 1) Establishing and executing internal control systems for quality control; 2) Examining the effectiveness of internal controls; and 3) Monitoring by an independent review committee to guarantee transparency.

Through these measures, PricewaterhouseCoopers Aarata aims to apply a framework comparable to the internal controls for financial reporting required under Section 404 of the U.S. Sarbanes-Oxley Act to the establishment and implementation of internal controls for quality control of an audit firm.

*ISQC 1 – International Standard on Quality Control No. 1, "Quality Control for Firms that Perform Audits and Reviews of Historical Financial Information"

Auditing Quality Control – PwC Audit

As part of its mission, PricewaterhouseCoopers Aarata considers auditing quality as its highest priority. The firm and all of its partners and employees recognise that the honesty and sense of responsibility employed by the on-site auditing team forms the foundation of its quality control efforts.

• To ensure that PricewaterhouseCoopers Aarata’s auditing operations meet international quality standards the firm has applied the "PwC Audit" approach developed by PricewaterhouseCoopers to all aspects of its operations.
• To continually improve the quality of audit engagement, PricewaterhouseCoopers Aarata has implemented a Continuing Improvement Review (CIR) programme, consisting of regular quality reviews of auditing operations, identification of problem areas, analysis of results, improvements to auditing methodologies and tools, and learning and education.
• PricewaterhouseCoopers Aarata has adopted a five-year partner rotation rule for all audits, in line with the requirements of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Partners other than lead engagement partners are bound to a seven-year rotation.
• To guarantee a full understanding of a client company’s business and conduct more accurate and comprehensive audits, PricewaterhouseCoopers Aarata gives due consideration to the nature of the business and the risks involved when assigning staff. The firm has developed a mandatory learning and education programme covering business ethics, accounting, auditing and other fundamentals, which all staff who provide auditing services are required to complete.
• To improve the effectiveness of auditing services, significant business events and management decisions are examined in real-time and based on the results of this analysis a decision is made on the company’s auditing. This is termed real-time auditing. In addition, as part of the review process PricewaterhouseCoopers Aarata has adopted a real-time review system, whereby significant matters from the real-time audits are in-turn reviewed in real-time by a Quality Review Partner (QRP). This is maintained throughout the entire process, from the audit planning stage, through the execution and assessment to the completion stage.
• The matters subject to review are specified in advance, and require the views of the technical support division (accounting consultation). The QRP monitors the conduct of this consultation.