1. The Internal Audit Organization:
The internal audit department is established under the board of the directors of the company. The internal audit officer is leading an internal audit team composed of 8 full time staffs.
According to Article 3 of the Company’s Corporate Governance Best-Practice Principles-- Appointment, dismissal, evaluation and review, salary and compensation of internal auditors of the company shall be reported to the board of directors or shall be submitted by the internal audit officer to the board chairman for approval.
In practice, the company follows related policies and regulations of recruitment and employment, employee performance evaluation, compensation, etc. The recruitment and staffing, performance evaluation, compensations of internal auditors shall be submitted by the internal audit officer to the board chairman for approval.
2. The Responsibilities of the Internal Auditor:
The internal auditors are responsible for inspecting and reviewing defects in the internal control systems as well as measuring operational effectiveness and efficiency to ensure the sustained operating effectiveness of the systems.
3. The Operation of the Internal Audit:
The company has established “The Standards of Practice of Internal Auditing” to inspect internal control systems. These standards include general provisions of internal audit, responsibilities of the internal auditor, qualifications and training of the internal auditor, formulation of the annual audit plan, engagement work program, follow-up on the defects and irregularities, self-assessment, etc.
The internal audit department of the company formulates annual audit plans based on the results of the risk assessment on each business activity and each subsidiary and submits the plans to the board of directors for approval. The internal audit department will implement the annual audit plans after the audit plans are approved by the board of directors. The internal auditors perform the audit duties with due professional care. The completed audit report will be submitted to all members of the audit committee on a monthly basis. The internal audit officer will also attend and deliver a report to the audit committee meeting and board of directors meeting on a quarterly basis.
The internal audit officer of the company is authorized to mobilize the internal auditors of the subsidiaries to jointly perform an audit project of the company or its subsidiary.
The internal audit department of the company will review the annual audit plans and audit reports of such subsidiary that has established an internal audit unit. The internal audit department will also review the audit reports submitted by the subsidiary and will follow up on the correction of any defects and irregularities in internal control systems.
The company and its subsidiaries have established “The Procedures of Self-assessment,” to check their internal control systems. All internal departments of the company and its subsidiaries are required to conduct self-assessment, at least once every year. The internal audit department will review the self-assessment reports prepared by all departments and subsidiaries.
The internal audit department will report to the Personnel Review Committee for any material defect or fraud discovered. Any manager or staff violates the internal controls seriously or commits fraud shall face strict penalty.
The internal audit department will continuously follow up on the correction of any defects or irregularities discovered by the competent authorities, CPA, and the internal auditor as well as any defects or irregularities mentioned in the company’s internal control statement. The internal audit department will also submit the follow-up on the correction of the aforementioned defects and irregularities to each member of the audit committee and report to the board of directors of the company.