| Terms of Reference |
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| (I) |
OBJECTIVE |
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The Committee of the
Company is to assist the board of directors of the Company
(the "Board") in (i) ensuring that an effective
system of internal control and compliance with the Company's
obligations (including external financial reporting
obligations) under stock exchange listing rules and
applicable laws and regulations is in place; and (ii)
overseeing the integrity of the financial statements
of the Company. |
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The Committee shall
also be directly responsible on behalf of the Board
for (i) the selection, oversight and remuneration of
the Company's external auditor, (ii) the assessment
of the independence and qualifications of the external
auditor, and (iii) the oversight of the performance
of the Company’s internal audit function and external
auditor. |
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| (II) |
MEMBERSHIP |
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The Committee shall
be appointed by the Board and shall comprise a minimum
of three Non-executive Directors. |
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The majority of the
members of the Committee (the "Members") shall
be Independent Non-executive Directors, at least one
of whom has to 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"). |
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The chairman of the
Committee shall be appointed by the Board and must be
an Independent Non-executive Director. |
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All members of the
Committee are appointed by the Board and can be removed
by the Board at its sole discretion. The Board shall
from time to time vary the composition of the Committee
as may be required by the Listing Rules (as modified
from time to time) or the rules of any other stock exchange
in respect of which the shares of the Company are listed
or quoted, or other codes, rules and regulations as
may be prescribed by the Hong Kong Securities and Futures
Commission or any other applicable regulatory authority
from time to time (the "Applicable Rules").
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A former partner of
the existing auditing firm of the Company is prohibited
from acting as a member of the Committee for a period
of one (1) year commencing on the later of (a) the date
of his ceasing to be a partner of the firm; and (b)
the date of his ceasing to have any financial interest
in the firm. |
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The Company Secretary
of the Company shall be the secretary of the Committee. |
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| (III) |
AUTHORITY |
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The Committee shall
report directly to the Board on its decisions or recommendations,
unless there are legal or regulatory restrictions on
its ability to do so (such as a restriction on disclosure
due to regulatory requirements). |
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The Committee is authorised
to inspect all accounts, books and records of the Company
and the Committee shall have the right to require the
management of the Company to furnish all information
requested by the Committee as may be required for the
purposes of discharging its duties. |
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The Committee is authorised
to obtain outside legal and other independent professional
advice and to secure the assistance of outsiders with
relevant experience and expertise if it considers necessary.
The Committee shall have sole authority to approve related
fees and retention terms. |
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The Committee shall
be provided with sufficient resources to discharge its
duties. |
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| (IV) |
DUTIES |
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The duties of the Committee shall include
the following aspects: |
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A. |
Relationship with the Company’s
external auditor |
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1. |
to 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 the external auditor; |
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2. |
to act as the key
representative body for overseeing the relation of the
Company with the external auditor; |
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3. |
to review and monitor
the independence and objectivity of the external auditor.
The Committee shall: |
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(a) |
consider all relationships between
the Company and the audit firm (including the provision
of non-audit services); |
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(b) |
seek from the audit firm, on an
annual basis, information about policies and processes
for maintaining independence and monitoring compliance
with relevant requirements, including current requirements
regarding rotation of audit partners and staff; and |
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(c) |
meet with the external auditor,
at least annually, in the absence of management of the
Company, to discuss matters relating to the audit fees,
any issues arising from the audit and any other matters
the external auditor or the Committee may wish to raise; |
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4. |
to review and monitor
the effectiveness of the audit process in accordance
with applicable standards. The Committee shall discuss
with the external auditor the nature and scope of the
audit and reporting obligations before the audit commences; |
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5. |
to develop and implement
policy on the engagement of 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 firm 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. |
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6. |
to be primarily responsible
for making recommendation to the Board for the approval
of any non-audit services provided to the Company by
the external auditor. The Committee should ensure that
the provision of such non-audit services does not impair
the external auditor’s independence or objectivity.
When assessing the independence or objectivity of the
external auditor in relation to the provision of non-audit
services, the Committee should consider: |
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(a) |
whether the skills and experience
of the audit firm make it a suitable supplier of the
non-audit services; |
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(b) |
whether there are safeguards in
place to ensure that there is no threat to objectivity
and independence in the conduct of the audit resulting
from the provision of such non-audit services by the
external auditor; |
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(c) |
the nature of the non-audit services,
the related fee levels and the fee levels individually
and in aggregate relative to the audit firm; and |
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(d) |
the criteria which govern the compensation
of the individuals performing the audit; and |
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7. |
to set policies regarding the hiring of
employees or former employees of the external auditor
and monitor the application of such policies. |
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B. |
Review of
financial information of the Company |
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1. |
to monitor the integrity
of financial statements of the Company and the annual
report and accounts and half-year report and accounts
of the Company, to discuss such annual report and audited
accounts and half-year report and accounts with management
and the external auditor, and to review significant
financial reporting judgments contained in them. In
this regard, in reviewing such reports and accounts
of the Company before submission to the Board, the Committee
shall focus particularly on: |
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(a) |
financial reporting and accounting policies and practices; |
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(b) |
any changes in financial reporting and accounting policies
and practices; |
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(c) |
major judgmental areas; |
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(d) |
significant adjustments resulting from audit; |
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(e) |
the going concern assumption and any qualifications; |
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(f) |
compliance with accounting standards; and |
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(g) |
compliance with the Listing Rules, the Applicable Rules
and any other legal requirements in relation to financial
reporting. |
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2. |
with regard to the
preparation of the reports and accounts referred to
above, to liaise with the Board, senior management and
the person appointed as the qualified accountant of
the Company, and to meet, at least once a year, with
the external auditor; |
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3. |
to consider any significant or unusual items
that are, or may need to be, reflected in the reports
and accounts referred to above and must give due consideration
to any matters that have been raised by the qualified
accountant, compliance officer or auditors of the Company. |
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C. |
Oversight of the Company’s
financial reporting system, internal control and risk
management procedures |
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1. |
to review the group's
financial and accounting policies and practices; |
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2. |
to review the financial
controls, internal control and risk management systems
of the Company with particular regard to their effectiveness;
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to 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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to consider any findings
of major investigations of internal control matters
as delegated by the Board or on its own initiative and
the response of management of the Company; |
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5. |
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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6. |
to review the statement of the Company on
internal control systems (where one is included in the
annual report) prior to endorsement by the Board; |
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to discuss any problems
and reservations which the external auditor may have
arising from the interim and final audits, and any interim
audits or otherwise, and any response of management
in connection therewith; |
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8. |
to review the management
letter of the external auditor, any material queries
raised by the auditor to management of the Company in
respect of the accounting records, financial accounts
or systems of control and the response of management
of the Company; and |
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to ensure that the
Board will provide a timely response to the issues raised
in the management letter of the external auditor. |
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D. |
Other duties |
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to ensure the Company's
practices and procedures with respect to related party
transactions are adequate for compliance with the requirements
under the Listing Rules and the Applicable Rules; |
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2. |
to review from time
to time as appropriate these Terms of Reference and
the effectiveness of the Committee and recommend to
the Board any necessary changes; |
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3. |
to report to the Board
on the matters set out in these Terms of Reference and
where the monitoring activities of the Committee reveal
cause for concern or scope for improvement, the Committee
shall make recommendations to the Board to address the
issue or to make improvements; |
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to provide to the Board
such assurances as it may reasonably require regarding
compliance by the Company's subsidiaries and associates
for which the Company provides management services with
all supervisory and other regulations to which they
are subject; and |
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to consider other topics
or matters, as defined or referred to the Committee
by the Board. |
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| (V) |
COMMITTEE MEETINGS |
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A. |
Frequency |
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The Committee shall
meet at least twice a year. Additional meetings should
be held if the Committee shall so request. |
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B. |
Notice |
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Notice of any meetings
of the Committee has to be given 14 days prior to any
such meeting being held, unless all Members unanimously
waive such notice. Irrespective of the length of notice
being given, attendance of a meeting by a Member shall
be deemed waiver of the requisite length of notice by
the Member. Notice of any adjourned meeting is not required
if the adjournment is less than 14 days. |
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C. |
Quorum |
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The quorum for decisions
of the Committee should be any two Members, of whom
one has to be an Independent Non-Executive Director.
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D. |
Attendance |
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The following persons
will normally attend all the meetings of the Committee,
unless requested otherwise by the Committee: |
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(i) |
external auditor; |
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(ii) |
internal auditor; |
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(iii) |
Group Finance Director; |
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(iv) |
Company Secretary; and |
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(v) |
Head Group General Counsel. |
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E. |
Resolutions |
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Resolutions of the
Committee shall be passed by a majority of votes which
can also be passed by way of unanimous written resolutions.
Meetings can be held in person, by telephone or by video
conference. |
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F. |
Minutes |
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The secretary of the
Committee should keep full minutes of all Committee
meetings. Draft and final versions of minutes of meetings
of the Committee should be sent to all Members for their
comment and records respectively, in both cases within
a reasonable time after the meeting. |
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Minutes of all Committee
meetings will also be sent to other members of the Board
at the same time when they are sent to Members. |
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| (VI) |
PUBLICATION OF THESE TERMS OF REFERENCE |
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A copy of these Terms
of Reference will be made available to any person without
charge upon request, and both notice as to such availability
and these Terms of Reference will be posted on the website
of the Company. |
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- END - |
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| Copy of these Terms of Reference will
be made available to any person without charge upon request. |