Accountants Act · 2023 Revised Edition · Part · Disciplinary Proceedings
57. Cancellation of registration, suspension etc. of public accountants
Official textFrom Attorney General's Chambers, unchanged
If, at the conclusion of a formal inquiry, the Disciplinary
Committee is satisfied that a public accountant —
public accountant
“public accountant” means a person who is registered in accordance with this Act as a public accountant;
has been convicted in Brunei Darussalam or elsewhere of any offence involving fraud, dishonesty or moral turpitude;
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has been convicted in Brunei Darussalam or elsewhere of any offence implying a defect in character which makes him unfit for his profession;
has been guilty of such improper or dishonourable conduct in the discharge of his professional duty or such improper or dishonourable conduct which, in the opinion of the Disciplinary
Committee, renders him unfit to be a public accountant or would bring the profession of public accountancy into disrepute;
has carried on by himself or by any of his employees any trade, business or calling that detracts from the profession of public accountancy or is in any way incompatible with it, or is employed in any such trade, business or calling;
has, while being a director of an accounting corporation or a partner of an accounting Limited Liability Partnership, failed to take reasonable steps to prevent the accounting corporation or accounting
Limited Liability Partnership from acting in a manner which would warrant the Authority imposing any order on the accounting corporation or accounting Limited Liability Partnership under section 58(2);
has rendered public accountancy services as, or purporting to be —
a director of a company which was not an accounting corporation; or
a partner of a limited liability partnership which was not an accounting Limited Liability Partnership, when the services were rendered;
has, while being a director of an accounting corporation or partner of an accounting Limited Liability Partnership, practised public accountancy at such a time when the accounting corporation or accounting Limited Liability Partnership was not covered by any professional indemnity insurance to the extent required by section 33;
or
has, while being a director of an accounting corporation, failed to comply with section 34(4),
Accountants the Disciplinary Committee shall report its findings to the Authority and recommend to the Oversight Committee to take any of the steps referred to in subsections (2)(a) to (f).
Upon receiving the report and recommendation of the
Disciplinary Committee under subsection (1), the Authority may —
Disciplinary Committee
“Disciplinary Committee” means a Disciplinary Committee appointed under Part 7;
by order, cancel the registration of the public accountant;
by order, suspend the public accountant from practice for such period not exceeding 2 years as may be specified in the order;
by order, impose such conditions as are necessary to restrict the practice of the public accountant in such manner as the Authority thinks fit for a period not exceeding 2 years;
by order, impose on the public accountant a penalty not exceeding $10,000;
in writing censure the public accountant;
by order, require the public accountant to give such undertaking as the Authority thinks fit; or
make such other order as it thinks just and expedient in the circumstances of the case.
In addition to its powers under subsection (2), the Authority may order the public accountant to pay to the Authority such sum as he thinks fit in respect of the costs and expenses of and incidental to any proceedings against him under this Part, and the High Court shall have jurisdiction to tax such costs and any such order for costs shall be enforceable as if it had been ordered in connection with a civil action in the High Court.
Authority
“Authority” means such person as is appointed by His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan under section 3(1) to be the Authority for the purposes of this Act;
Where a public accountant in respect of whom an order referred to in subsection (2)(c), (d) or (f) has been made fails to comply with any of the requirements imposed on him by the order or breaches any undertaking given by him pursuant to such order, the Authority may order —
that his name be removed from the Register of Public
Accountants; or
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that he be suspended from practice for a period not exceeding one year.
Where the Authority has made an order referred to in subsection (2)(c), the Authority may, if it thinks fit having regard to any change in circumstances, by another order revoke the original order or revoke or vary any of the conditions imposed by the original order.
Where the Authority has, under subsection (5), varied the conditions imposed by an order referred to in subsection (2)(c), the Registrar shall immediately serve on the public accountant a notice of the variation.
Registrar
“Registrar” means the Registrar of Public Accountants appointed by His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan under section 10(1)(a) and includes a Deputy Registrar and an Assistant Registrar appointed under section 10(1)(b);
Any penalty referred to in subsection (2)(d) shall be recoverable as a debt due to the Authority from the public accountant.
A decision of the Authority under subsection (2), (3), (4) or (5)
shall not take effect —
until the expiration of one month from the date on which the decision has been communicated to the public accountant; or
where an appeal against the decision is made to the Minister under section 59, until the appeal has been determined or withdrawn.
While any public accountant remains suspended, he is deemed not to be registered as a public accountant under this Act, but immediately upon the expiry of his period of suspension, his rights and privileges as a public accountant shall immediately be revived.
For the purposes of subsection (1)(e), a public accountant is deemed to have taken reasonable steps to prevent the doing of any act by any accounting corporation or accounting Limited Liability Partnership if he satisfies the Disciplinary Committee that the act was done without his knowledge and that —
accounting corporation
“accounting corporation” means a company approved as an accounting corporation under section 20;
he was not in a position to influence the conduct of the accounting corporation or accounting Limited Liability Partnership in relation to that act; or
being a director of the accounting corporation or a partner of the accounting Limited Liability Partnership, he exercised all due diligence to prevent the accounting corporation or accounting Limited
Liability Partnership from so acting.
Accountants
In this section, references to acts done by an accounting corporation or an accounting Limited Liability Partnership include a series of acts.
accounting limited liability partnership
“accounting limited liability partnership” means a limited liability partnership approved as an accounting limited liability partnership under section 22;
Terms defined in s 2
accounting corporation
Defined · s 2“accounting corporation” means a company approved as an accounting corporation under section 20;
accounting limited liability partnership
Defined · s 2“accounting limited liability partnership” means a limited liability partnership approved as an accounting limited liability partnership under section 22;
Authority
Defined · s 2“Authority” means such person as is appointed by His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan under section 3(1) to be the Authority for the purposes of this Act;
costs and expenses
Defined · s 2“costs and expenses”, in relation to any disciplinary proceedings under Part 7, includes — (a) the costs and expenses of any legal assessor and any advocate and solicitor appointed by the Authority for proceedings before the Oversight Committee or a Disciplinary Committee; (b) such reasonable expenses as the Oversight Committee may pay to witnesses; and (c) such reasonable expenses as are necessary for, or incidental to, the institution and conduct of proceedings before a Disciplinary Committee;
Disciplinary Committee
Defined · s 2“Disciplinary Committee” means a Disciplinary Committee appointed under Part 7;
Oversight Committee
Defined · s 2“Oversight Committee” means the Public Accountants Oversight Committee appointed by the Authority under section 5(1);
professional indemnity insurance
Defined · s 2“professional indemnity insurance” includes insurance indemnifying a public accountant, an accounting corporation, an accounting firm or an accounting Limited Liability Partnership against liability to compensate a third party who has sustained financial loss or any other damage or injury due to a breach of professional duty or to any professional negligence on the part of such public accountant, accounting corporation, accounting firm or accounting Limited Liability Partnership, as the case may be (including any such negligence by any director of such accounting corporation or any partner of such accounting Limited Liability Partnership), or fraud or dishonesty;
public accountancy services
Defined · s 2“public accountancy services” means the audit and reporting on financial statements and the doing of such other acts that are required by any written law to be done by a public accountant;
public accountant
Defined · s 2“public accountant” means a person who is registered in accordance with this Act as a public accountant;
Register of Public Accountants
Defined · s 2“Register of Public Accountants” means the register kept and maintained under section 6(1)(a)(i);
Registrar
Defined · s 2“Registrar” means the Registrar of Public Accountants appointed by His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan under section 10(1)(a) and includes a Deputy Registrar and an Assistant Registrar appointed under section 10(1)(b);
Part