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CMA Intermediate · Corporate Accounting and Auditing · Secretarial Audit

A listed company's directors refuse to give the secretarial auditor access to the minute books and statutory registers. Under section 204(2), what is the position?

The company has a duty under section 204(2) to give the company secretary in practice all assistance and facilities for auditing its secretarial and related records. Refusing access to minute books and registers breaches this duty, and the audit itself is mandatory for a listed company.

  1. AThe auditor must then rely on the Board's declaration
  2. BIt is the company's duty to give all assistance and facilities for auditing the secretarial and related recordsCorrect
  3. CAccess is optional because the audit is voluntary for listed companies
  4. DOnly the Registrar of Companies can order that access be given

Explanation

Section 204(2) makes it the duty of the company to give all assistance and facilities to the company secretary in practice for auditing the secretarial and related records. Refusal is therefore a breach by the company. Section 204(1) makes the audit mandatory for a listed company, so it is not voluntary.

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