Statutory Branch Auditors :
This section discusses the matters to be considered by a proposed statutory branch auditor (SBA) upon receiving intimation of appointment and
before commencing the actual audit engagement. It deals with aspects of preliminary work to be undertaken by the branch auditor before actually
commencing the audit work. The letter of appointment sent by banks to branch auditors typically contains the following:
Appointment under the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, and the underlying duties and responsibilities of the SBA.
Particulars of branch(s) to be audited and of the region/zone to which the branch reports.
Particulars of statutory central auditors.
Particulars of previous auditors.
Guidelines for conducting audit of Branches, completion of audit, eligible audit fees and reimbursement of expenses etc.
Procedural requirements to be complied with in accepting the assignment, e.g., letter of acceptance, declaration of indebtedness, declaration of fidelity and secrecy, other undertaking by the firm/SBA, specimen signatures, etc
Scope of work – Besides the statutory audit under the provisions of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, SBA is also required to verify certain other
areas and issue various report and certificates like LFAR, Tax Audit Report, certificates for cash verification on odd dates, Ghosh & Jilani reports etc.