Approval of External Auditors for Designated Financial Holding Companies with Licensed Insurer Subsidiaries

Circular No. ID 07/22
29 June 2022
To Chief Executives
All designated financial holding companies that have a subsidiary that is a licensed insurer incorporated, formed or established in Singapore Dear Sir/Madam APPROVAL OF EXTERNAL AUDITORS Under section 39(1)(a) of the Financial Holding Companies Act 2013 (“FHC Act”), every designated financial holding company shall on an annual basis, appoint and obtain the approval of MAS for the appointment of an auditor. 2 Designated financial holding companies that have a subsidiary that is a licensed insurer incorporated, formed or established in Singapore (“DFHC (Licensed Insurer)”) should submit the completed application form in Appendix 1 to MAS for the purpose of seeking the approval of MAS for the appointment of auditor. 3 DFHC (Licensed Insurer) should also inform their audit partners who will be signing the audit report to complete the application form in Appendix 2 and submit it to MAS. A soft copy of the Appendix 2 application form in excel format should also be submitted to MAS. 4 Please contact your company’s liaison officer in MAS should you require further clarification. Thank you. Yours faithfully [sent via MASNET] DANIEL WANG EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR INSURANCE DEPARTMENT ENC. cc: Institute of Singapore Chartered Accountants

Appendix 1
SECTION I BASIC INFORMATION
1.1 Name of financial holding company
1.2 Proposed engagement for the audit relating to: Financial year ending DD MMM YYYY
1.3 Proposed date of appointment (if any)
(Note: This application form should be submitted to the Authority no later than one month before the proposed date of appointment.)
SECTION II DETAILS OF PROPOSED AUDITOR
2.1 Name of audit firm
2.2 (a) Name of audit partner (who will be signing the audit report) ("Signing Partner")
(b) Name of engagement audit partner (if different from above)
2.3 (a) Is there a change in audit firm or Signing Partner from the preceding engagement? Yes/ No*
(b) If yes, state the reason for the change
SECTION III RECOMMENDATION BY BOARD AND/OR AUDIT COMMITTEE
3.1 Date of Board and/or Audit Committee meeting DD MMM YYYY
3.2 Extract of minutes of Board and/or Audit Committee meeting on the assessment, recommendation and approval for appointment of proposed auditor.
Signature: _________________________________ Date: _________________________________

• Delete as appropriate.
  I, <Name of Chief Executive> , Chief Executive of <Name of financial holding company> , hereby submit this application and declare that all information given in this application (including any annexes and appendices attached) is true and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief. APPLICATION FORM FOR APPOINTMENT OF AUDITOR
  SECTION 39(1) OF THE FINANCIAL HOLDING COMPANIES ACT 2013
  (To be completed by the designated financial holding company that has a subsidiary that is a licensed insurer incorporated, formed or established in Singapore. ) DD MMM YYYY

Appendix 2
SECTION I BASIC INFORMATION
1.1 Name of financial holding company
1.2 Proposed engagement for the audit relating to: Financial year ending DD MMM YYYY
SECTION II INFORMATION ON PRECEDING AUDIT ENGAGEMENT (Not applicable for the first year of engagement)
Name Years of audit experience Years of insurance audit experience Man-hours for audit engagement Partner Manager Team Leader Team Member S$ % Total audit fee Total non-audit services fee Total fees 100% Total man-hours APPLICATION FORM FOR APPOINTMENT OF AUDITOR
SECTION 39(1) OF THE FINANCIAL HOLDING COMPANIES ACT 2013
(To be completed by the auditor for the designated financial holding company that has a subsidiary that is a licensed insurer incorporated, formed or established in Singapore. A soft copy of this application form in excel format should also be submitted to MAS.)

SECTION III INFORMATION ON PROPOSED AUDIT ENGAGEMENT
Years of audit experience Years of insurance audit experience Estimated man-hours for audit engagement Name of Partner(s) Managers/ Team Leaders/ Team Members (Names are not required) No. of Managers = ______ No. of Team Leaders = ______ No. of Team Members = ______ S$ % Total audit fee Total non-audit services fee Total fees 100% Signature: _________________________________ Date: _________________________________ Total man-hours I, <Name of Signing Audit Partner> , on behalf of <Name of Audit Firm> , hereby submit this application and declare that all information given in this application (including any annexes and appendices attached) is true and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.