Penalties for violations against regulations on independence

1. A fine ranging from VND 5.000.000 to VND 10.000.000 shall be imposed for taking up positions of management, administration, inspection committee member or chief accountant of a unit with public interest less than 12 months after completing the last audit for that unit.

2. A fine ranging from VND 10.000.000 to VND 20.000.000 shall be imposed for carrying out auditing works for a unit with public interest for more than 4 consecutive fiscal years.

3. A fine ranging from VND 20.000.000 to VND 40.000.000 shall be imposed in the following cases:

a) The unit with public interest authorizes audit practitioners to audit financial statements for more than 4 consecutive fiscal years;

b) The auditing firm appoints audit practitioners to audit financial statements for a unit with public interest for more than 4 consecutive fiscal years.

4. Additional penalties:

a) The audit practitioner committing the violation mentioned in Clause 2 of this Article shall have his/her certificate of audit practice registration for 3-6 months suspended from the day the decision on penalty imposition comes into effect;

b) The auditing firm recommitting the violation mentioned in Point b, Clause 3 of this Article shall have its certificate of eligibility to provide audit services suspended for 3-6 months from the day the decision on penalty imposition comes into effect.

Section 7. VIOLATIONS AGAINST REGULATIONS ON PROVISION AND USE OF TRANSBOUNDARY AUDIT SERVICES

Article 62. Penalties for violations against regulations on conditions for provision of transboundary audit services

1. A fine ranging from VND 10.000.000 to VND 20.000.000 shall be imposed on the foreign auditing firms tampering with documents to obtain the certificate of eligibility to provide transboundary auditing services in Vietnam.

2. A fine ranging from VND 40.000.000 to VND 50.000.000 shall be imposed on the foreign auditing firm committing one of the following violations:

a) Forging application documents for provision of transboundary audit services registration;

b) Providing transboundary audit services in Vietnam without a certificate of eligibility to provide transboundary audit services in Vietnam;

c) Continuing to provide transboundary audit services despite the provision of audit services being put on hold, suspended or terminated, or the certificate of eligibility to provide transboundary audit services in Vietnam being revoked.

3. Additional penalty:

The foreign auditing firm committing any of the violations mentioned in Points b, c, Clause 2 of this Article shall have its certificate of eligibility to provide transboundary audit services in Vietnam suspended (if already issued) for 3-6 months from the day the decision on penalty imposition comes into effect.

4. Remedial Measure:

Return illegal profits earned by the violations specified in Points b, c, Clause 2 of this Article.

Article 63. Penalties for violations against regulations on methods for provision of transboundary audit services

1. A fine ranging from VND 10.000.000 to VND 20.000.000 shall be imposed on the foreign auditing firm committing one of the following violations:

a) Making payment of service charges against regulations of law on foreign currency management of Vietnam;

b) Failure to make audit contracts in compliance with Vietnamese law while providing transboundary audit services;

c) Failure to make joint venture contracts while providing transboundary audit services in Vietnam.

2. A fine ranging from VND 20.000.000 to VND 30.000.000 shall be imposed the organization in the following cases:

a) The Vietnamese auditing firm forms joint venture with a foreign firm that is not eligible for provision of transboundary audit services while providing transboundary audit services in Vietnam;

b) The foreign auditing firm forms joint venture with a Vietnamese firm that is not eligible for provision of transboundary audit services while providing transboundary audit services in Vietnam.

3. A fine ranging from VND 30.000.000 to VND 40.000.000 shall be imposed on the foreign auditing firm that fails to form joint venture with a Vietnamese firm that is eligible for provision of audit services while providing transboundary audit services in Vietnam.

4. Additional penalty:

The foreign auditing firm committing the violation mentioned in Clause 3 of this Article shall have its certificate of eligibility to provide transboundary audit services in Vietnam suspended for 6-12 months from the day the decision on penalty imposition comes into effect.