Silver Bird case raises several audit-related issues

ERROL OH'S article on a local listed company possibly being the first to sue its internal and external auditors (StarBizWeek, Aug 11) had raised a plethora of issues on the distinction between the functions of internal and external audit. It is indeed right to say that “there is a universal lack of understanding of the internal audit profession ”

The Silver Bird case has brought this issue to the forefront. To the credit of the regulators, internal audit's importance and the role it plays in corporate governance was brought to the forefront with the internal audit function being made mandatory for a listed company beginning Jan 31, 2009. The listing rules also stipulate the independence of the function from the activities that it audits.