Auditor Association With Documents Containing Financial Statements

Recent changes announced by the Auditing and Assurance Standards Board ("AASB") of the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants ("CICA") will have an impact on reporting issuers, particularly when it comes to the condensed time frame of a public offering.

The AASB has enhanced the traditional auditor duties with respect to their involvement with prospectuses and other offering documents and annual reports. There has also been a significant change to the procedures an auditor is required to perform in carrying out their auditing duties. For example, new Section 7110 of the CICA Handbook (the "Handbook") requires auditor review of any unaudited financial statements included in any type of securities offering document. At the same time, revised Section 7500 of the Handbook requires auditors to perform procedures on a broader range of public documents that contain financial statements and with which the auditor is associated.