On 19/05/2013,
you requested for the version in force on 19/05/2013
incorporating all amendments published on or before 19/05/2013.
The closest version currently available is that of 01/03/2011.
PART IV
CHARITY ACCOUNTS, REPORTS AND RETURNS
12.
—(1) Unless otherwise excepted by regulations made under this Act, the governing board members of a charity shall ensure that accounting records are kept in respect of the charity which are sufficient to show and explain all the charity’s transactions, and which are such as to —
(a)
disclose at any time, with reasonable accuracy, the financial position of the charity at that time; and
(b)
enable the governing board members to ensure that, where any statements of accounts are prepared by them under regulations made under section 13, those statements of accounts comply with the requirements of those regulations.
(2) The accounting records shall, in particular, contain —
(a)
entries showing from day to day all sums of money received and expended by the charity, and the matters in respect of which the receipt and expenditure takes place; and
(b)
a record of the assets and liabilities of the charity.
(3) The governing board members of a charity shall preserve any accounting records made for the purposes of this section in respect of the charity for at least 5 years from the end of the financial year of the charity in which they are made.
[2/2007]
(4) Where a charity ceases to exist within the period of 5 years mentioned in subsection (3) as it applies to any accounting records, the obligation to preserve those records in accordance with that subsection shall continue to be discharged by the last governing board members of the charity, unless the Commissioner consents in writing to the records being destroyed or otherwise disposed of.
13.
—(1) The Minister may make regulations relating to the financial reporting requirements for charities, including provisions —
(a)
allowing the governing board members of specified classes of charities to prepare a receipts and payments account and a statement of assets and liabilities instead of a statement of accounts in respect of any financial year of the charity;
(b)
prescribing requirements as to the form and contents of accounts and statements of charities;
(c)
requiring the accounts and statements of specified classes of charities to be in compliance with all or any of the following:
(i)
specified accounting standards that are made or formulated by the Accounting Standards Council under Part III of the Accounting Standards Act (Cap. 2B);
(ii)
other accounting standards or requirements specified in the regulations;
(d)
providing for relief from the requirements of such accounting standards applicable to charities;
(e)
determining the financial years of a charity for the purposes of this Act;
(f)
modifying the application of any provisions in the Companies Act (Cap. 50) as to the form and content of a company’s accounts or consolidated accounts being in compliance with the Accounting Standards (as defined in the Companies Act) in respect of a company that is registered as a charity or approved as an institution of a public character under this Act; or
(g)
providing that any person who is guilty of an offence under any regulations made under paragraph (c) in respect of a charity which is registered as a company under the Companies Act (Cap. 50) shall be liable on conviction to the same penalty as that provided under section 204(1) or (3)(a), as the case may be, of that Act.
(2) The governing board members of a charity shall preserve any statement of accounts or other account and statement prepared by them for the purposes of regulations made under this section, for at least 5 years from the end of the financial year to which any such statement relates or to which any such account and statement relate, as the case may be.
(3) Section 12(4) shall apply, with the necessary modifications, in relation to the preservation of any such statement or account and statement as it applies in relation to the preservation of any accounting records.
14.
—(1) The Minister may by regulations make provision —
(a)
requiring the accounts of charities to be audited or examined and specify the circumstances in which such audits or examinations shall be carried out by a public accountant, an independent qualified accountant or an independent person;
(b)
with respect to the duties of an auditor or independent examiner carrying out an audit or examination for the purposes of this section;
(c)
conferring on such an auditor or independent examiner a right of access with respect to books, documents and other records (however kept) which relate to the charity concerned;
(d)
entitling such an auditor or independent examiner to require, in the case of a charity, information and explanations from past or present governing board members or trustees for the charity, or from past or present officers, employees or auditors of the charity; and
(e)
enabling the Commissioner, in prescribed circumstances, to dispense with any of the requirements prescribed under paragraph (a) in the case of a particular charity or in the case of any particular financial year of a charity.
(2) Where it appears to the Commissioner —
(a)
that any requirement under this section for the accounts of a charity to be audited or examined has not been complied with in relation to a financial year of a charity within 10 months from the end of that year; or
(b)
that it would be desirable for the accounts of a particular charity for any year to be audited by a public accountant although the regulations made under this Act do not so require,
the Commissioner may by order require the accounts of the charity for that year to be audited by a person appointed by the Commissioner.
(3) The expenses of any audit carried out by a person appointed by the Commissioner under subsection (2), including his remuneration, shall be paid —
(a)
by the governing board members of the charity concerned who shall be personally liable, jointly and severally, for those expenses; or
(b)
to the extent that it appears to the Commissioner not to be practical to pay those expenses in accordance with paragraph (a), from the funds of the charity.
(4) The Commissioner may give such directions as he may think appropriate with respect to the carrying out of an examination required by regulations made under this Act, and any such directions may either be of general application or apply to a particular charity only.
(5) If any person fails to afford an auditor or independent examiner any facility to which he is entitled by virtue of regulations made under subsection (1)(c) or (d), the person shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $5,000 and, in the case of a continuing offence, to a further fine not exceeding $50 for every day or part thereof during which the offence continues after conviction, and the Commissioner may by order give to that person or to the governing board members for the time being of the charity concerned, such directions as the Commissioner thinks appropriate for securing that the default is made good.
(6) Section 391 of the Companies Act (Cap. 50) shall have effect in relation to an auditor or independent examiner appointed by a charity in pursuance of this section as it has effect in relation to a person employed as auditor by a company within the meaning of that Act.
15. [Repealed by Act 34/2010 wef 01/03/2011]
16.
—(1) Unless otherwise excepted by regulations made under this Act, the governing board members of a charity shall prepare in respect of each financial year of the charity an annual report containing —
(a)
a prescribed report by the governing board members on the activities of the charity during that year; and
(b)
such other information relating to the charity or to its governing board members or officers as may be prescribed by regulations made under this Act.
(2) The annual report required to be prepared under this section in respect of any financial year of a charity shall be transmitted to the Commissioner by the governing board members —
(a)
within 6 months from the end of that year; or
(b)
within such longer period as the Commissioner may for any special reason allow in the case of that report.
(3) Subject to subsection (4), every such annual report shall have attached to it the statement of accounts or account and statement prepared for the financial year in question in pursuance of section 13(1), together with —
(a)
where the accounts of the charity for that year have been audited under section 14, a copy of the report made by the auditor on that statement of accounts or on that account and statement, as the case may be; or
(b)
where the accounts of the charity for that year have been examined under section 14, a copy of the report made by the independent examiner in respect of the examination carried out by him under that section.
(4) Subsection (3) shall not apply to a charity which is a company, and any annual report transmitted by the governing board members of such a charity under subsection (2) shall have attached to it a copy of the charity’s annual accounts prepared for the financial year in question under Part VI of the Companies Act (Cap. 50), together with a copy of the auditor’s report on those accounts.
(5) Any annual report transmitted to the Commissioner under subsection (2), together with the documents attached to it, shall be kept by the Commissioner for such period as he may think fit.
(6) [Deleted by Act 34/2010 wef 01/03/2011]
[UK Charities Act 1993, s. 45]
17.
—(1) Any annual report or other document kept by the Commissioner in pursuance of section 16(5) shall be open to public inspection at all reasonable times —
(a)
during the period for which it is so kept; or
(b)
if the Commissioner so determines, during such lesser period as he may specify.
(2) Where any interested person —
(a)
requests the governing board members of a charity in writing to provide him with a copy of the charity’s most recent accounts; and
(b)
pays the governing board members such reasonable fee (if any) as they may require in respect of the costs of complying with the request,
those governing board members shall comply with the request within the period of 2 months beginning with the date on which the request is made.
(3) In subsection (2), the reference to a charity’s most recent accounts shall be —
(a)
a reference to the statement of accounts or account and statement prepared in pursuance of section 13(1) in respect of the last financial year of the charity the accounts for which have been audited or examined under section 14; and
(b)
in the case of a charity which is a company, a reference to the annual accounts of the company most recently audited under Part VI of the Companies Act (Cap. 50).
[UK Charities Act 1993, s. 47]
18. Any person who, without reasonable excuse, is persistently in default in relation to any requirement imposed by section 16(2) or 17(2) shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $5,000 and, in the case of a continuing offence, to a further fine not exceeding $50 for every day or part thereof during which the offence continues after conviction.
[10/2007]
[UK Charities Act 1993, s. 49]