The financial year for a Licensed Financial Institution shall begin on the first of January and end on the thirty first of December of each year, except for the first financial year, which begins from date of registration of the institution and shall end at the end of the following financial year.

1) Branches of foreign Licensed Financial Institutions shall maintain separate accounts for all their operations in the State, including the balance sheet and profit and loss account.

2) Branches and sections of a local or foreign Licensed Financial Institution operating in the State, shall, for the purposes of bookkeeping, constitute one financial institution.

1) Each Licensed Financial Institution operating in the State shall, every year, appoint an auditor or more, from amongst the auditors approved by the Central Bank, to audit its accounts. Should the concerned Licensed Financial Institution fail to appoint the auditor, the Central Bank shall appoint an auditor for the concerned institution and determine its remuneration, which shall be paid by the concerned institution.

2) The functions of the auditors shall include preparation of a report on the balance sheet and the profit and loss accounts for the shareholders. The auditors shall state in their report whether the annual balance sheet and profit and loss accounts are true and fair, and whether the concerned Licensed Financial Institution has provided them with all the information and clarifications requested for the performance of their mission. The concerned Licensed Financial Institution shall, at least twenty (20) working days before convening of the general assembly, provide the Central Bank with copy of the auditors’ report, along with copy of the balance sheet and the profit and loss account.

3) The general assembly of a Licensed Financial Institution may not be convened prior to receipt of Central Bank’s remarks on the report. The Central Bank may, within ten (10) working days from date of receipt of the report referred to in item (2) of this article, issue a decision not to approve the profits proposed for distribution to shareholders, if a shortfall in provisions was found, or a decline in the capital adequacy ratio from the established minimum requirement was established, or any reservation indicated in the auditors’ report or from the Central Bank, and deemed to have impact on distributable profits.

4) The auditors’ report, together with the report of the board of directors of the Licensed Financial Institution shall be read to the shareholders at the annual general assembly where the concerned institution is incorporated in the State. Such institution shall provide the Central Bank, within twenty (20) work days from date of convening of the general assembly, with three (3) copies of each report. If the concerned Licensed Financial Institution was incorporated in another jurisdiction, a copy of the auditors’ report shall be forwarded to its head office, and three (3) copies thereof shall be submitted to the Central Bank within twenty (20) working days from date of its issue.

5) The auditors shall not be represented in the board of directors of the Licensed Financial Institution, which appointed it to audit its accounts, nor have one of its staff appointed as employee, or act as advisor to the same institution.

6) A Licensed Financial Institution shall not extend credit facilities, of any type, to the auditors of its accounts. An auditor approved by the Central Bank may not commence its functions at a Licensed Financial Institution, unless any obligations it may have towards such institution were settled.

7) The auditors shall be responsible for the contents of their report on the financial statements of the concerned Licensed Financial Institution. If failure to properly perform their assigned duties or violation of provisions of this Decretal Law and the regulations and decisions issued in implementation thereof was established, the Central Bank may take any necessary measures or procedures, in collaboration and coordination with the concerned authorities in the State to strike their names from the established registers. The Central Bank may, at its own discretion, take any administrative or legal actions against the negligent or violating auditors.

8) The Central Bank may, at its discretion, require the auditors of a Licensed Financial Institution, or its subsidiaries or affiliates, to submit a report, at the expense of the concerned Licensed Financial Institution, establishing their compliance with the provisions of this Decretal Law and the regulations issued in implementation thereof.

9) The Board of Directors shall issue regulations and establish a register for approved auditors, authorized to audit the accounts of Licensed Financial Institutions.

1) Each Licensed Financial institution shall publish and post the following information and statements on its website, and in each of its offices and branches in the State:

1. a. Copy of its audited balance sheet and profit and loss account, and copy of the auditors’ report. Where a Licensed Financial Institution is incorporated in other jurisdictions, publication of such statements may be carried out in the manner consistent with laws of the concerned jurisdiction.
2. b. List of names of members of the board of directors, senior executives and their deputies and assistants.
3. c. Names of all wholly or partially owned subsidiaries, or entities related to the concerned Licensed Financial Institution.

2) The Central Bank may, require any Licensed Financial Institution to publish or post any information or statements relating to its accounts, in addition to the requirements stated in item (1) of this article, as it deems appropriate.