BSP Memorandum No. 5 (2025)

To

BANGKO SENTRAL NG PILIPINAS

MEMORANDUM NO. M-2025-005

OFFICE OF THE DEPUTY GOVERNOR

FINANCIAL SUPERVISION SECTOR

BSP-Supervised Financial Institutions (BSFIs)' External Auditors

Subject : Guidelines on the Electronic Submission of Application for Inclusion

in the List of Selected External Auditors for BSFis

Pursuant to Circular No. 1210 dated 17 February 2025, external auditors shall

observe the following procedural guidelines on the electronic submission of

applications for inclusion in the List of Selected External Auditors for BSFls:

1.

The applicant shall use the prescribed data-entry application form in Annex A

when applying for inclusion in the List of Selected External Auditors for BSFls.

The accomplished data-entry application form, including the signed copy ina

Portable Document File (PDF), and the supporting documents shall be emailed

to [email protected].

The applicant shall strictly adhere to the following prescribed format in

electronically transmitting its application to the Bangko Sentral:

a. Subject Line Format:

<APPLICATION TYPE><,><APPLICANT TYPE><.><Applicant Name>

i. Indicate NEW, RENEWAL, or RE-INCLUSION for application type.

ii. Indicate INDIVIDUAL, PARTNER, or AUDIT FIRM for applicant type.

iii. For the applicant partner, indicate the applicant's and firm's names.

Iustrative example: NEW,PARTNER, April M. June of July Co., CPAs

Filename. The duly accomplished form shall be submitted in Excel and

PDF with the below filename format:

Forml<-><Firm Name><-><Application Type>

Form2<-><Applicant Name><-><Application Type>

/Hustrative examples:

Form!-July Co., CPAs-New.x!s Form2-April M. June-New.x!s

Form]-July Co., CPAS-New.pdf Form2-April M. June-New.pdf

4. Non-receipt of an acknowledgment from the [email protected]

account within three (3) banking days shall mean delivery failure or non-

adherence to the prescribed format under item 3.

Page 1 of 2

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5. The appropriate supervising department shall conduct the pre-evaluation

screening and communicate the results to the applicant within seven (7)

banking days from receipt of the application. The payment order and other

instructions shall be communicated to the eligible applicant to proceed with

the application processing, while incomplete documents shall be returned

without prejudice to the resubmission of complete documents.

All subsequent communications of the applicant shall be emailed to

[email protected] copy furnished appropriate supervising department

based on item 5.

For compliance.

CHUCHI G. FONACIER

Deputy Governor

__February 2025

20

Digitally signed by

Chuchi G. Fonacier

Date: 2025.02.20

17:17:06 +08'00'

ANNEX A

Classification: GENERAL

APPLICATION FOR INCLUSION IN THE LIST OF SELECTED EXTERNAL AUDITORS

FOR BANGKO SENTRAL SUPERVISED FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS

(AUDIT FIRM)

Please put a checkmark () inside the appropriate box

Type of Application

 New/Initial

 Renewal

 Re-inclusion

Applying For

 Group A1

 Group B2

 Group C3

Applicant Details

Name of Firm:

SEC Certificate of Registration No.

Business Address:

Telephone No.: E-mail Address:

BOA Accreditation No.: Date Granted: mm-dd-yyyy Expiration Date: mm-dd-yyyy

Information on Currently Employed Partner/s4:

Full Name

(Surname, First Name, Middle Name)

Position

CPA Certificate/

License No.

Validity of

Inclusion

(mm/dd/yyyy)

[Add row/s if the space provided is not enough].

Affiliated Foreign CPA/Auditing Firm (if any)

Name of Foreign Firm Country Nature & Extent of Relationship

[Add row/s if the space provided is not enough].

Audit Clients Profile5 Client Name Audited Financial Statements Year6 Total Assets7 (in Peso Millions)

[Add row/s, if the space provided is not enough].

1 May audit UBs/KBs/Digital Banks;Foreign banks and branches or subsidiaries of foreign banks and Trust departments and trust corporations. 2 May audit TBs, NBFIs with quasi-banking license, Virtual asset service providers, Credit Card Issuers/Acquirers. 3 May audit RBs and Coop Banks, Non-stock Savings and Loan Associations, Pawnshops, Remittance and Transfer Companies/Money Changers/Foreign Exchange Dealers. 4 Include only details of partner/s included in the List of Selected External Auditors for BSFIs as of the application date 5 For new/initial application, provide a complete List of Clients (previous and current). For the renewal and re-inclusion, provide a complete List of Clients for the last five (5) years. 6 Indicate the year(s) audited (e.g., 2023, 2020-2023, 2019/2022). 7 Based on the latest audited year.

Classification: GENERAL Accompanying documents • Copy of valid and updated Board of Accountancy’s (BOA) Certificate of Accreditation, with attachment listing the name of qualified partner/s of the firm, as submitted to BOA • Copy of the latest Audited Financial Statements of the applicant’s two (2) largest clients based on total assets (applicable only for new/initial application).

Declaration 1. The firm is compliant with all the qualification requirements.

2. The firm has established adequate quality assurance procedures, such as consultation policies and stringent quality control, to ensure full compliance with the accounting and regulatory requirements.

3. Partners, associates, audit-in-charge of the audit firm or any member of their immediate family within the second degree of consanguinity or affinity do not have direct or indirect financial interest in the BSP-Supervised Financial Institutions (BSFIs).

4. The audit firm does not have outstanding loans or any credit accommodations (except credit card obligations which are normally available to other credit card holders and fully secured auto and housing loans that are not past due with the BSFI.

5. The Chief Executive Officer or Chief Financial Officer or its equivalent rank in the BSFI was not previously employed by the audit firm in any capacity during the one-year preceding the date of initiation of the audit.

6. Partners, associates, or auditor-in-charge of the audit firm were not an officer or director of the BSFI or its subsidiaries during the one-year preceding the date of the initiation of the audit.

7. That the Firm shall maintain its working papers for at least 10 years to support the conclusion in the audit report and make them available to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) authorized representative/s when required to do so.

8. That the Firm, duly represented by the undersigned, authorizes the BSP to process and obtain data/information from other Government Agencies relative to the application for inclusion in the List of Selected External Auditors for BSFIs, which shall not constitute a breach of data privacy pursuant to Data Privacy Act of 2012.

9. That the Firm adheres to the requirements of the Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants in the Philippines.

10. That the Firm, duly represented by the undersigned, certify that, to the best of my knowledge, the particulars given in this application and all accompanying documents are true and correct.

11. As managing partner, I certify that all communication regarding the firm’s application for inclusion in the List of Selected External Auditors for BSFIs may be sent or transmitted by the BSP through electronic mail address and shall be considered as official transmittal by the BSP.

Managing Partner signature over printed name

Classification: GENERAL

APPLICATION FOR INCLUSION IN THE LIST OF SELECTED EXTERNAL AUDITORS FOR BANGKO SENTRAL NG PILIPINAS SUPERVISED FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS (INDIVIDUAL/SOLE PRACTITIONER/PARTNER OF AN AUDIT FIRM)

Please put a check mark () inside the appropriate box Type of application

 New/Initial  Renewal

Re-Inclusion Applying for

 Group A1

 Group B2

 Group C3 Type of applicant

 Individual/Sole Practitioner  Partner4-Audit Firm: Applicant Details

Name of Applicant: Date of Birth: mm-dd-yyyy Place of Birth: Age: Business Address:

Telephone No.: E-mail Address:

CPA License No.: Date Granted: mm-dd-yyyy Expiration Date: mm-dd-yyyy

BOA Accreditation No.: Date Granted: mm-dd-yyyy Expiration Date:mm-dd-yyyy Audit Experience Number of years of audit experience: Please provide details where audit experience was obtained:

No. Name of Audit Firm Role/Responsibility (e.g., Manager/Auditor-In- Charge/Lead Partner/Concurring Partner) Duration From To

[Add row/s if the space provided is not enough]. Audit Clients Profile5 Client Name Audited Financial Statements Role/Responsibility (e.g., Manager/Auditor-In- Charge/Lead Partner/Concurring Partner) Year6 Total Assets7 (in Peso Millions)

[Add row/s if the space provided is not enough].

1 May audit UBs/KBs/Digital Banks; Foreign banks and branches or subsidiaries of foreign banks, and Trust departments and trust corporations. 2 May audit TBs, NBFIs with quasi-banking license, Virtual asset service providers, Credit Card Issuers/Acquirers. 3 May audit RBs and Coop Banks, Non-stock Savings and Loan Associations, Pawnshops, Remittance and Transfer Companies/Money Changers/Foreign Exchange Dealers. 4 For partner applicant, indicate the associated audit firm. 5 For new/initial application, provide a complete List of Clients (previous and current). For the renewal and re-inclusion, provide a complete List of Clients for the last five (5) years. 6 Indicate the year(s) audited (e.g., 2023, 2020-2023, 2019/2022). 7 Based on the latest audited year.

Classification: GENERAL Accompanying documents • Copy of valid and updated Board of Accountancy’s (BOA) Certificate of Accreditation with the list of qualified partner/s of the firm as certified by the BOA (as applicable).

• Copy of the latest Audited Financial Statements of the applicant’s two (2) largest clients based on total assets (Applicable only for new/initial application) Declaration 1. I have met all the qualification requirements.

2. I or any member of my immediate family within the second degree of consanguinity or affinity does not have direct or indirect financial interest in the BSP Supervised Financial Institutions (BSFIs).

3. I do not have outstanding loans or any credit accommodations (except credit card obligations which are normally available to other credit card holders and fully secured auto and housing loans that are not past due) with the BSFI.

4. I was not an officer or director of the BSFI or its subsidiaries and affiliates during the one-year preceding the date of the initiation of the audit.

5. I will maintain my working papers for at least 10 years to support the conclusions in the audit report and make them available to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP)’ authorized representative/s when required to do so.

6. That I authorize the BSP to process and obtain data/information from other Government Agencies relative to the application for inclusion in the List of Selected External Auditors for BSFIs, which shall not constitute a breach of data privacy pursuant to Data Privacy Act of 2012.

7. That I adhere to the requirements of the Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants in the Philippines.

8. I certify that the particulars given in this application and all accompanying documents are true and correct.

9. I confirm that all communications regarding the application for inclusion may be sent or transmitted by the BSP through electronic mail address and shall be considered as official transmittal by the BSP.

Applicant’s signature over printed name