(1) The board of directors of a reporting issuer, in discharging its responsibilities for ensuring the reliability of an interim financial report, should consider engaging an external auditor to carry out a review of the interim financial report.
(2) Subsection 4.3(3) of the Instrument requires a reporting issuer to disclose if an auditor has not performed a review of the interim financial report, to disclose if an auditor was unable to complete a review and why, and to file a written report from the auditor if the auditor has performed a review and expressed a reservation in the auditor’s interim review report. No positive statement is required when an auditor has performed a review and provided an unqualified communication. If an auditor was engaged to perform a review on an interim financial report applying review standards set out in the Handbook, and the auditor was unable to complete the review, the issuer’s disclosure of the reasons why the auditor was unable to complete the review would normally include a discussion of
(a) inadequate internal control;
(b) a limitation on the scope of the auditor’s work; or
(c) the failure of management to provide the auditor with the written representations the auditor believes are necessary.
(3) If a reporting issuer’s annual financial statements are audited in accordance with Canadian GAAS, the terms review” and “interim review report” used in subsection 4.3(3) of the Instrument refer to the auditor’s review of