(1) The board of directors of an investment fund that is a corporation or the trustees of an investment fund that is a trust, in discharging their responsibilities for ensuring a reliable interim financial report, should consider engaging an external auditor to carry out a review of the interim financial report.
(2) Section 2.12 of the Instrument requires an investment fund 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 performed a review and expressed a reservation in the auditor’s interim review report. No positive statement is required when an auditor 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 investment fund’s disclosure of the reasons why the auditor was unable to complete the review should normally include a discussion of
(a) inadequate internal control,
(b) a limitation on the scope of the auditor’s work, or
(c) a failure of management to provide the auditor with written representations the auditor believes are necessary.
(3) The terms “review” and “written review report” used in section 2.12 of the Instrument refer to the auditor’s review of and report on an interim financial report using standards for a review of an interim financial report by the auditor as set out in the Handbook.
(4) The Instrument does not specify the form of notice that should accompany an interim financial report that has not been reviewed by the auditor. The noticeaccompanies, but does not form part of, the interim financial report. We expect that the notice will normally be provided on a separate page appearing immediately before the interim financial report, in a manner similar to an auditor’s report that accompanies annual financial statements.