Frontken Berhad Annual Report 2019

33 Frontken Corporation Berhad (651020-T) ANNUAL REPORT 2019 Statement On Risk Management And Internal Control (cont’d) INTERNAL CONTROL SYSTEM – THE SALIENT FEATURES (cont’d) • a process of hierarchical reporting which provides a documented and auditable trail of accountability, with appropriate sign-off by personnel entrusted with the responsibilities; • an annual budgetary exercise that requires all business units and companies in the Group to formulate financial budgets which are then consolidated into a Group budget, presented to the Board for comments and ultimate approval. Quarterly reviews of the Group’s performance against budget are carried out at Board meetings where explanations on significant variances or unusual fluctuations are furnished by Management. Management meetings at operational level are conducted to review financial performance against business plans and monitor the respective business unit’s performance against budget; • significant changes in business development are reported by Management to the Board at scheduled meetings. This oversight review enables the Board to evaluate and monitor the Group’s business performance vis-à-vis its strategic objectives; • the Audit Committee, which is entrusted by the Board to oversee, amongst others, the Company’s financial reporting process, in particular the quarterly and annual announcements of the Group’s financial performance, meets at least quarterly to review the announcements, seeks clarification and explanations from Management before recommending the announcements to the Board for approval; • internal policies and procedures on key business processes are formalised in writing for application by personnel across the Group. These policies and procedures provide the necessary guidance to personnel on complying with internal control requirements and applicable laws and regulations; • structured whistle-blower policies and procedures are formalised in writing to enable employees of the Group to raise genuine concerns about suspected improprieties on matters of financial reporting, non-compliance with laws and regulations, malpractices or unethical business conduct within the Group at the earliest opportunity and in an appropriate way without fear of reprisal; and • where issues arise that affect the reliability and integrity of financial information of any business unit, special audits are commissioned by the Audit Committee or Senior Management, as the case may be, to assist the Board in fulfilling its oversight responsibilities. INTERNAL AUDIT FUNCTION – ITS STRUCTURE AND SCOPE OF COVERAGE The Group has two (2) groups of internal auditors, i.e. one covering the operations of the Group (save for Taiwan operations), and the other covering solely the Taiwan operations. The internal audit function of the Group (save for Taiwan operations) is outsourced to an independent professional firm, namely BDO Governance Advisory Sdn Bhd, whilst the internal audit function for the Taiwan operations is an in-house function, i.e. the internal audit personnel are employees of the subsidiary in Taiwan, namely Ares Green Technology Corporation (“AGTC”). The appointment of the outsourced internal audit service provider followed an assessment of its suitability and capability by the Audit Committee of the Company whilst the performance of the in-house internal audit function is under the oversight of AGTC’s Board. Outsourced internal audit coverage – Group (save for Taiwan operations) The outsourced internal audit team, which is helmed by an average of four (4) professionals from the firm, including the head of the team, Mr Karthigayan Supramaniam, who is a member of the Malaysian Institute of Accountants and the Institute of Internal Auditors, Malaysia, conducted an assessment of the Group’s system of internal control during the financial year under review, focusing on selected significant business units and reported its observations, including Management’s response and action plans thereto, directly to the Audit Committee. The internal audit function also conducted a follow-up on the status of implementation of action plans by Management on the recommendations highlighted, as deemed relevant. The Audit Committee took note of the issues highlighted and questions were posed to Management on the timeliness of measures to address the issues as reported.