Resignation of statutory auditors from listed entities and their material subsidiaries

1. Listed companies are required to make timely disclosures to investors in the securities market for enabling them to take informed investment decisions.

2. UnderSub-clause(2)of Clause A in Part C of Schedule II under Regulation 18(3) of the SEBI (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements)Regulations, 2015 (“SEBI LODR Regulations”), the Audit Committee of a listed entity, inter alia, has to make recommendations for the appointment, remuneration and terms of appointment of auditors of a listed entity. Under Sub-clause (7), the Audit Committee is also responsible for reviewing and monitoring the independence and performance of auditors and the effectiveness of the audit process.
3. Further, Sub-clause (7A) inserted under Clause A in Part A of Schedule III under Regulation 30(2) of SEBI LODR Regulations requires detailed reasons to be disclosed by the listed entities to the stock exchanges in case of resignation of the auditor of a listed entity as soon as possible but not later than twenty-four hours of receipt of such reasons from the auditor.
4. Regulation 36(5) of the SEBI LODR Regulations lays down certain disclosures to be made part of the notice to the shareholders for an AGM, where the statutory auditors are proposed to be appointed/re-appointed, including their terms of appointment.
5. Resignation of an auditor of a listed entity / its material subsidiary before completion of the audit of the financial results for the year due to reasons such as pre-occupation may seriously hamper investor confidence and deny them access to reliable information for making timely investment decisions.
6.  In light of the above, the conditions to be complied with upon resignation of the statutory auditor of a listed entity/material subsidiary w.r.t. limited review/audit report as per SEBI LODR Regulations, are as under:
    A. All listed entities/material subsidiaries shall ensure compliance with the following conditions while appointing/re-appointing an auditor:
   1. (i)  If the auditor resigns within 45 days from the end of a quarter of a financial year, then the auditor shall, before such resignation, issue the limited review/ audit report for such quarter.
   2. (ii)  If the auditor resigns after 45 days from the end of a quarter of a financial year, then the auditor shall, before such resignation, issue the limited review/ audit report for such quarter as well as the next quarter.

   (iii)Notwithstanding the above, if the auditor has signed the limited review/ audit report for the first three quarters of a financial year, then the auditor shall, before such resignation, issue the limited review/ audit report for the last quarter of such financial year as well as the audit report for such financial year.

   B. Other conditions relating to resignation shall include:

   (i) Reporting of concerns with respect to the listed entity/its material subsidiary to the Audit Committee:

a. In case of any concern with the management of the listed entity/material subsidiary such as non-availability of information / non-cooperation by the management which may hamper the audit process, the auditor shall approach the Chairman of the Audit Committee of the listed entity and the Audit Committee shall receive such concern directly and immediately without specifically waiting for the quarterly Audit Committee meetings.

b. In case the auditor proposes to resign, all concerns with respect to the proposed resignation, along with relevant documents shall be brought to the notice of the Audit Committee. In cases where the proposed resignation is due to non-receipt of information/explanation from the company, the auditor shall inform the Audit Committee of the details of information/explanation sought and not provided by the management, as applicable.