Muscat: The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has issued a decision suspending Abu Timam Grant Thornton Chartered Accountants for one year, according to an official statement.
This decision also requires all entities subject to FSA's supervision and jurisdiction to take all necessary actions to terminate their contracts
FSA issued a decision no 8/2024 on August 25 to suspend Abu Timam Grant Thornton Chartered Accountants for one year from providing external audit service to the entities subject to FSA supervision and jurisdiction.
This decision also requires all entities subject to FSA's supervision and jurisdiction to take all necessary actions to terminate their contracts with the aforementioned firm and appoint a new external auditor from among those accredited by the Authority as of August 25.
This decision was taken against the firm, due to the firm's violations of the applicable laws and regulations while providing auditing services to several companies listed on the Muscat Stock Exchange and other regulated entities.
The firm has accepted accounting practices that did not comply with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs) and International Standards on Auditing (ISAs), which in turn affected the integrity of financial statements disclosed to investors.
These practices include inadequate auditing procedures of the work of component auditors and lack of communication with them, issuing audit reports before completing detailed examination procedures of significant balances and transactions, conducting inappropriate tests to verify balances recognized in financial reports, and failing to address discrepancies between financial reports and non-financial reports included in the annual report. Additionally, the firm provided non-audit services to the audit clients in violation of legal requirements.
It is worth noting that (FSA) had previously issued a set of regulations governing the operations of au-diting firms to ensure their compliance with International Standards on Auditing (ISAs) and the requirements of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs).
FSA emphasizes continuous evaluation of the audit firms' performance through its regulatory examination teams, as it recognizes the importance of the role played by these firms, and believes that Audit firms are the main pillar for protecting investors and other stakeholders in providing accurate and reliable information to make the right decisions.
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