Additionally, the AOB imposed fines of RM227,000 on Ong & Wong, RM35,000 each on Koon Liang and Kong Lai, and RM34,000 on Cham Mew.

Based on the AOB’s inquiry findings, Ong & Wong and the three audit partners were found to have failed to comply with the relevant International Standards on Auditing (ISA) and International Standard of Quality Control (ISQC) 1 when auditing two PIE clients (PIE 1 and PIE 2).

Breaches by the audit partners

The AOB found numerous audit deficiencies in the engagement reviews of the two PIE clients that were led by Koon Liang and Kong Lai respectively as the engagement partners. These deficiencies, among others, relate to the sufficiency and appropriateness of the audit evidences obtained and the completeness of audit documentation to support the conclusions reached¹.

Additionally, in the audit of PIE 2 where the subsidiaries operate in a foreign country, the AOB noted issues concerning the reliability of documents and the audit team’s control over the trade receivables confirmation where requests were made and received through the management of PIE 2 in contravention of the relevant ISA.

Cham Mew, the Engagement Quality Control Reviewer (EQCR) for both the PIEs, had failed to sufficiently review the selected audit documentation relating to significant judgements and risk areas of the engagement as well as the basis of the conclusions reached. This affected the overall audit quality as evidenced by the multiple audit deficiencies discovered in the two audits performed.

Breaches by Ong & Wong

Meanwhile, Ong & Wong had failed to comply with the relevant requirements of ISQC 1. In particular, the firm had failed to ensure that its quality control monitoring system operated effectively, resulting in its failure to detect the audit deficiencies found in the audits of the two PIE clients.

In addition, the audit deficiencies found in the audit of PIE 2 raised concerns on the audit firm’s understanding and knowledge in performing audit(s) in a foreign country and in meeting the relevant audit requirements in the foreign country. The AOB would like to stress that auditors must be familiar with and adhere to the laws, regulations and reporting requirements of foreign jurisdictions when performing audits of an entity outside Malaysia.

The AOB also reiterates the crucial role of EQCR in safeguarding the integrity of audit quality and control process.

The AOB’s sanctions against Ong & Wong and its auditors were imposed after the due process accorded to them, including the opportunity for them to appeal against the AOB’s decisions.