The purpose of this Law is to regulate relations in the field of audit activity.

The legislation on audit activity consists of this Law and other legislative acts.

If an international treaty of the Republic of Uzbekistan establishes rules other than those provided for by the legislation of the Republic of Uzbekistan on audit activity, then the rules of the international treaty shall apply.

The following basic concepts are applied in this Law:

auditor — an individual who has an auditor's qualification certificate;

Register of auditors — a list of auditors who have an auditor's qualification certificate posted on the official website of the authorized state body in the field of audit activities, except for the register formed by the Central Bank of the Republic of Uzbekistan;

audit organization — a commercial organization that carries out audit activities for the conduct of audits and the provision of related services;

Register of audit organizations — a list of audit organizations posted on the official website of the authorized state body in the field of audit activities;

audit activity — entrepreneurial activity of audit organizations for the provision of audit services;

audit committee — a committee, consisting of the members of the supervisory board of an economic entity, as a rule, including at least one independent member, responsible for establishing control over the correctness of financial reporting, selection of an independent auditing organization, overseeing audit processes, as well as obtaining and reviewing the results of internal and external audits;

ranking — formation of ordered lists of audit organizations, grouped according to certain indicators that characterize the activities of audit organizations;

applicant — an individual applying for an auditor qualification certificate or extension of its validity period.

The main principles in the field of audit activity are independence, objectivity and integrity, professional competence and confidentiality of information.

The auditor should be free from bias and not allow facts that could compromise him/her.

If there are circumstances that hinder independence, the audit organization should refuse to provide audit services.

The auditor must comply with the priorities of the public interest, be impartial and not jeopardize his/her professional judgment due to bias, conflicts of interest or pressure from others, and avoid circumstances that negatively affect the reputation of the audit organization.

The auditor must comply with the requirements of this Law, have an appropriate level of professional competence and maintain professional knowledge and skills at a level sufficient for the quality provision of audit services as part of an audit organization.

Auditors and employees of an audit organization are not entitled to disclose and transfer information that became known to them in the course of the provision of audit services without a written consent of the persons who received the audit services, except for cases provided for by anti-corruption legislation and legislation on anti-money laundering, -terrorist financing and -financing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

The standards for audit activity are international auditing standards and international standards of quality control, international standards of reviews, international standards of assurance, international standards of ancillary services published by the International auditing and assurance standards board of the International federation of accountants.

Auditing activities are carried out based on auditing standards that are not contrary to the legislation of the Republic of Uzbekistan and are posted on the official website of the authorized state body in the field of audit activities based on the permission for their publication in the Republic of Uzbekistan received from the International federation of accountants.

The procedure for recognizing international audit standards for their application on the territory of the Republic of Uzbekistan is determined by the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

The main areas of state policy in the field of audit activity are:

creating conditions for the development of audit activities and fair competition in the market of audit services based on international best practices;

increasing the role and importance of audit and responsibility of audit organizations for the quality of the provided audit services;

improving the system of professional training and skills development of auditors;

developing the system of external quality control of the work of audit organizations;

attracting young people to the auditing profession and ensuring active cooperation of national public associations of auditors with the relevant higher educational organizations.

Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan:

ensures the implementation of state policy in the field of audit activities;

determines the procedure for recognizing international auditing standards for their application on the territory of the Republic of Uzbekistan;

determines the procedure for external quality control of audit organization;

maintains a list of audit organizations authorized to issue opinions on taxes in the event of voluntary liquidation of a business entity and establishes the procedure for issuing tax opinions upon such voluntary liquidation.

Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Uzbekistan is the authorized state body in the field of audit activity (hereinafter — authorized state body).

Authorized state body:

implements state policy in the field of audit activity;

represents the interests of the Republic of Uzbekistan in international organizations in the field of audit activity;

develops, approves and implements, within the limits of its authority, legal acts regulating audit activity;

maintains the Register of auditing organizations and the Register of auditors;

ensures the improvement of the information system of the “Audit” software complex intended for electronic interaction with republican public associations of audit organizations and auditors, as well as the implementation of remote monitoring through this software complex of compliance by audit organizations with the requirements of legislation in the field of auditing activities;

carries out, jointly with national public associations of auditors, external quality control of the work of audit organizations;

analyzes the development of audit services.

The authorized state body carries out its activities openly and transparently in cooperation with other state bodies, organizations and citizens, as well as with the media.

The following shall be published on the official website of the authorized state body:

auditing standards;

the register of audit organizations, as well as information on audit organizations that are members of international audit organizations or international associations;

information contained in the Register of Auditors specified in part two of Article 44 of this Law;

the procedure for external quality control of the work of audit organizations;

the results of external quality control of the work of audit organizations that have conducted mandatory audits;

information on the development of audit services.

Other information may be posted on the official website of the authorized state body in accordance with the legislation.

The Central Bank of the Republic of Uzbekistan, within the limits of its powers:

establishes the specific features of conducting audits of banks;

determines the procedure for issuing auditor's qualification certificates on the right to conduct audits of banks and issues them;

maintains the Register of auditors with auditor's qualification certificate on the right to conduct audits of banks and posts it on its official website.

National public associations of auditors are non-governmental non-profit organizations that unite auditors.

National public associations of auditors contribute to the development and maintenance of the professional level of auditors and protect their professional interests.

National public associations of auditors:

ensure the organization of systematic monitoring of compliance by auditors and audit organizations with the Code of ethics for professional accountant, published by the International ethics standards board for accountants of the International federation of accountants (hereinafter — the Code of ethics for professional accountant);

prepare proposals for improving the legislation on auditing;

determine a unified ranking procedure;

organize the ranking and annually, by May 1, publish the results on their official websites;

maintain registers of members of national public associations of auditors and post them on their official websites;

if necessary, take part in the work of international organizations on accounting and auditing;

annually, by January 10, submit to the authorized state body information on the completed professional development courses by auditors;

approves, in agreement with the authorized state body, the regulation on conducting the qualification examination, the procedure for issuing, reissuing, extending the validity period of, and terminating the validity of the auditor’s qualification certificate, as well as a standard program for the professional development of auditors;

conducts the qualification examination;

issues, reissues, extends the validity period of, and terminates the validity of the auditor’s qualification certificate, except for certificates issued by the Central Bank of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

Interference in the activities and influencing in any form the audit organizations, as well as their employees shall not be allowed.

An auditor can simultaneously work only in one audit organization on the basis of an employment or a civil law contract concluded between him and the audit organization.

An auditor can be a founder (participant) of only one audit organization in which he/she works.

An auditor who previously headed an audit organization that was excluded from the Register of audit organizations in connection with a violation of the legislation on audit activity cannot be the head of another audit organization for three years from the date of such exclusion from the said Register.

An auditor's assistant is an individual who does not have an auditor's qualification certificate, who works in an audit organization and participates in an audit as directed by the auditor without the right to sign on the auditor's report and other documents related to the audit.

An auditor's assistant is subject to the obligation not to disclose information that became known to him/her during the audit.

Professional development of auditors is carried out by training centers accredited by an international organization in the field of accounting and auditing.

An auditor annually, starting from the year following the year of receiving the auditor's qualification certificate, undergoes advanced training courses for auditors.

Professional development courses for auditors shall be conducted in accordance with a standard program approved by republican public associations of auditors.

The auditor's qualification certificate (hereinafter — certificate) is a document confirming the qualifications of the auditor and giving him the right to provide audit services as part of an audit organization.

A certificate is a document of strict accountability issued by a republican public association of auditors, provided that the applicant has successfully passed the qualification examination.

The certificate is issued for an initial five-year period, its validity is extended for another ten-year period and subsequently — for an indefinite period.

An applicant with an international accountant certificate and subject to compliance with the requirements provided for in Articles 21 and 22 of this Law, is issued the certificate for an initial five-year period, which is renewed at a specified periodicity without passing a qualifying exam.

A qualification exam is a procedure for the qualification commission to check the knowledge of applicants for obtaining a certificate or extending its validity period.

The regulation on conducting the qualification examination shall be established by republican public associations of auditors in agreement with the authorized state body.

If the auditor has a continuous work experience of at least ten years as an auditor and the documents specified in part two of Article 22 of this Law are submitted, the validity period of the certificate is extended without passing a qualifying exam.

An applicant who has not passed the qualification exam has the right to submit documents to retake the qualification exam no earlier than one month from the date of participation in the qualification exam.

To obtain a certificate, the applicant must have a higher education and work experience of at least three out of the last ten years in the field of accounting and auditing (including part-time) or teaching in a higher educational institution of the subjects «Accounting» or «Audit».

An applicant with a master's degree in accounting and auditing should have at least one year of work experience (including part-time) in an audit organization.

If the applicant has a scientific degree in economic specialties, work experience in the field of accounting and auditing is not required.

To obtain a certificate for an initial five-year period, the applicant submits an application to the authorized state body with the following documents attached:

details of the passport or identification ID card;

copies of a diploma of higher education or a document on an academic degree or a certificate of the relevant authorized state body on the recognition of a document on higher education or an academic degree obtained in a foreign state;

copies of the international certificate of the accountant (if any) with the attachment of documents confirming passing advanced training with the established periodicity;

copies of the record of employment (including par-time and work experience abroad) or an extract from the interdepartmental hardware and software complex «Unified national labor system»;

For the extension of the validity period of the auditor’s certificate, the auditor shall, not earlier than six months and not later than three months prior to the expiry of the initial five-year period or the subsequent ten-year period, submit an application to a republican public association of auditors, attaching the following documents:

original certificate;

copies of the international certificate of the accountant (if any) with the attachment of documents confirming passing advanced training with the established periodicity;

copies of the record of employment or an extract from the interdepartmental hardware and software complex «Unified national labor system»;

The documents specified in parts one and two of this article shall be submitted in written or electronic form.

The requirement to submit documents not provided for in this article shall not be allowed.

A republican public association of auditors shall, within three working days from the date of receipt of an application for obtaining a certificate or extending its validity period, adopt a decision on granting the applicant permission to take the qualification examination or on refusing to grant such permission.

Consideration of an applicant's application for obtaining a certificate or extending its validity period without passing a qualification exam is carried out within the time limit specified in part one of this article. Issue of a certificate or extension of its validity without passing a qualification exam is refused in the manner prescribed by Article 24 of this Law.

The list of applicants admitted to take the qualification examination, as well as applicants holding an international accounting certificate or having at least ten years of continuous experience in auditing, shall be approved by a republican public association of auditors and published on its official website.

The list of applicants admitted to the qualification exam, as well as having an international accountant certificate or continuous work experience as an auditor of at least ten years, is approved by the authorized state body and published on its official website.

Applicants holding an international accounting certificate or having at least ten years of continuous experience in auditing shall be sent notifications on the results of the review of the submitted documents by a republican public association of auditors.

Applicants who have an international accountant certificate or continuous work experience as an auditor of at least ten years shall be sent notifications of the results of review of the submitted documents by the authorized state body.

When renewing the certificate, the period from the date of submission of the application to the date of expiry of the certificate shall be included in the continuous work experience as an auditor.

A period not exceeding one month between appointments to the position of auditor shall not be considered as a break in determining continuous work experience as an auditor.

If the applicant fails to appear at the qualification exam twice, the submitted documents shall be returned. In this case, the paid application fee for obtaining a certificate or extending its validity period shall not be refunded.

In case permission to take the qualification examination is refused, a republican public association of auditors shall, within three working days, notify the applicant in written or electronic form of the decision adopted, indicating the grounds for refusal.

The grounds for refusing admission to qualification exam are:

non-compliance of the applicant with the qualification requirements established in Article 21 of this Law;

incomplete submission of documents provided for in Article 22 of this Law.

An applicant who is refused admission to qualification exam has the right to reapply after the reasons for refusal have been eliminated. If such reasons are eliminated within fifteen working days, the application fee shall not be charged.

The certificate shall be issued by a republican public association of auditors within ten days after receipt of the minutes of the qualification commission and shall have legal force in the territory of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

In the event of a change in the auditor’s surname, name, or patronymic, the auditor shall, within one month from the date of issuance of documents confirming the relevant changes, submit an application to the republican public association of auditors that issued the certificate for its reissuance.

The renewal of the certificate is carried out within five working days from the date of submission of the application for the renewal of the certificate by the auditor with the attachment of the original certificate to be renewed and copies of documents confirming the relevant change. Upon renewal, a new certificate shall be issued with the previously issued number and validity period. The previously issued certificate shall be destroyed.

A duplicate certificate shall be issued based on an auditor's application for the issuance of a duplicate certificate to replace the lost or worn-out certificate. Information about the lost certificate is published on the official website of the authorized state body. A duplicate of the certificate is issued with the previously issued number and validity period with the obligatory inscription «Duplicate» on the new certificate.

A certificate that has become invalid shall be returned to the republican public association of auditors that issued it and shall be destroyed.

A certificate expires from the date of the decision to terminate its validity.

The grounds for the termination of a certificate are:

the auditor's statement on the termination of a certificate;

failure to participate in audit activities for three years;

failure of the auditor to appear to receive a certificate within six months from the date of its issuance;

establishment of the fact that the decision of a republican public association of auditors to issue a certificate is unlawful;

establishment of the fact of obtaining a certificate using forged documents;

court verdict that has entered into legal force, providing for punishment in the form of deprivation of a certain right;

court decision on recognizing the owner of a certificate as legally incompetent or partially legally incapacitated;

systematic (more than two times) or one-off gross violation of the requirements of this Law in the implementation of audit activities.

A one-off gross violation of the requirements of this Law shall be:

violation of the audit restrictions, provided for in Article 34 of this Law;

preparation of a knowingly false auditor's report;

disclosure of confidential information obtained during the audit without the consent of the customer of the audit, except as otherwise provided by law;

concealment by the auditor of the facts of violations by an economic entity of the established requirements for accounting and financial statements revealed during the audit;

established fact of transferring a certificate to another person in order for this person to use it to participate in audit activities on his/her own behalf;

participation of the auditor as a specialist for carrying out various inspections on behalf of regulatory or law enforcement authorities without concluding a contract between the audit organization and these authorities;

establishment of the fact that the auditor is simultaneously an employee or founder (participant) of more than one audit organization;

failure of the auditor to complete annual professional development course.

An auditor whose certificate has been terminated on the grounds provided for in paragraph nine of part two of this article shall not have the right to reapply for a certificate within three years from the date of the decision to terminate the certificate.

The certificate of the head of the audit organization and the auditor, who committed violations that entailed the exclusion of the audit organization from the Register of audit organizations, shall expire from the date of exclusion of the data on the audit organization from the Register of audit organizations.

A decision of a republican public association of auditors on termination of the validity of a certificate may be appealed to a court in accordance with the procedure established by legislation.

The decision to terminate a certificate shall be sent within five days to the auditor or audit organization in which he/she works.

Information on the termination of the validity of the certificate shall be published on the official website of the republican public association of auditors that issued the certificate.

Within ten working days from the date of receipt by the auditor of the decision on termination of the validity of the certificate, the certificate shall be returned for destruction to the republican public association of auditors that issued it.

An auditing organization has the right to carry out audit activities from the date of entering the data on it in the Register of audit organizations.

An audit organization carries out its activities independently.

An audit organization may not be established by ministries, departments, or other state and economic management bodies.

An audit organization is prohibited from engaging in other types of entrepreneurial activity, except for the types of activity provided for in Articles 32 and 33 of this Law.

Officials of public administration and management bodies, as well as other persons who are prohibited from engaging in entrepreneurial activity in accordance with the law, may not be founders of an audit organization.

An audit organization may be created and carry out its activities in any organizational and legal form provided for by law, except for a joint stock company, subject to the following mandatory conditions:

the minimum number of auditors, for whom the audit organization is the main place of work, is at least four full-time auditors;

authorized fund (authorized capital) of an audit organization is formed by property, including funds, directly used by the audit organization in the implementation of its activities;

the share of authorized fund (authorized capital) belonging to the auditors (auditor) must be at least fifty one percent (except for cases of creation of an audit organization — a branch or subsidiary of a foreign audit organization);

head of an audit organization should be only an auditor for whom this audit organization is the main place of work.

An audit organization cannot be a founder (participant) of another audit organization.

In case of non-compliance with the requirements of part six of this article, the audit organization, within five days from the date of the occurrence of the non-compliance, shall notify thereof the authorized state body in writing or electronically, and within a period of not more than three months from this date shall be obliged to eliminate the inconsistency that has arisen or make a decision to terminate the audit activity. It is prohibited to conduct audits by an audit organization until the non-compliance with the requirements of part six of this article is eliminated.

When creating a branch of an audit organization, the head of the branch must be an auditor.

The firm name of the audit organization must contain the phrase «audit organization» and should not contain designations that are identical or similar, to the extent of their confusion, with the trade names of other audit organizations.

A commercial organization, the data on which has not been entered into the Register of audit organizations within three months from the date of entering the data on it into the Unified state register of business entities, is not entitled to use the phrase «audit organization» in its name.

If an audit organization is excluded from the Register of audit organizations, it shall not be allowed to carry out audit activities and use the phrase «audit organization» in its firm name.

An audit organization has the right to:

conduct a preliminary review of the constituent documents and documents of accounting and financial reporting of an economic entity in order to make a decision on conducting an audit;

independently determine the forms and methods of conducting an audit;

receive, when conducting an audit, the full documentation of an economic entity related to its financial and economic activities, as well as check the actual availability of any property and the actual state of any liabilities accounted for in this documentation;

participate in competitive selection of audit organizations announced by the economic entity, as well as familiarize with the selection conditions and submit its application;

receive oral and written explanations from persons exercising managerial functions or functions of accounting and financial management, other financially responsible employees, audit committee of an economic entity on issues arising during the audit and additional information required for the audit;

receive written confirmation of information from third parties;

refuse to conduct an audit if the economic entity does not provide the necessary information to draw up an audit report;

involve other specialists in the capacity of experts in the audit;

provide related services to an economic entity, during the period covered by the audit, except for setting, restoring, conducting accounting and preparing financial statements, including the preparation of financial statements in accordance with international financial reporting standards, performing the functions of a revision commission (financial inspector), trustee of investment assets;

unite in associations and other non-governmental non-profit organizations in order to represent and protect its interests.

An audit organization may have other rights in accordance with the legislation and a contract for the provision of audit services.

An audit organization is obliged to:

comply with the requirements of this Law, standards of auditing and the Code of ethics for professional accountants;

comply with the requirements of the legislation on combating the legalization of proceeds from crime, the financing of terrorism and the financing of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction;

ensure that the share of auditors (auditor) in authorized fund (authorized capital) is not less than fifty one percent (except for cases of creation of an audit organization — a branch or subsidiary of a foreign audit organization);

ensure the presence in its staff of at least four auditors for whom the audit organization is the main place of work;

ensure that auditors complete professional development courses once a year;

carry out audit activities only if there is a liability insurance policy of the audit organization;

ensure independence in the provision of audit services;

present, at the request of the customer of audit services, the certificate of the auditor (auditors), the policy of liability insurance of the audit organization;

provide, at the request of an economic entity, information on the requirements of international auditing standards for the conduct of an audit, the norms of legislative acts on which the auditor's opinion is based;

ensure the confidentiality of information obtained during the provision of audit services;

draw up the results of the audit in accordance with the standards of auditing and keep copies of audit reports in the auditing organization for at least five years;

post on its official website or the official websites of national public associations of auditors information on the mandatory audits carried out, indicating the identifying data of the economic entity and the audit report;

provide information for the ranking of audit organizations;

inform in writing the management of an economic entity and the persons responsible for corporate governance, as well as audit committee of any violations of accounting legislation or facts that clearly indicate corruption offenses;

establish and comply with a system of internal quality control of auditors' work;

not to interfere with the external quality control of the audit organization;

notify the authorized state body in writing or electronically within five days of any changes in its postal and e-mail address, a change of the head of an audit organization and (or) a change in the composition of auditors;

maintain its own website and keep it in an active condition;

submit annually, by January 20, in written or electronic form, information on audit activities to the authorized state body.

An audit organization may bear other obligations in accordance with the legislation and a contract for the provision of audit services.

An audit organization shall be liable to the customers of the audit, economic entity and other users of financial statements for causing damage to them as a result of an audit report containing incorrect opinion about the financial statements and other financial information of the economic entity.

For violation of the requirements of the legislation on combating the legalization of proceeds from criminal activity, financing terrorism and financing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, the head of the audit organization shall be held accountable in the manner prescribed by law.

Conducting an audit by an organization, information about which is not included in the Register of audit organizations, entails liability in the manner prescribed by law.

Auditing organizations provide audit services in the form of audits and related services.

Audit services are provided based on a contract concluded between the audit organization and the customer of audit services.

An audit is an examination of the financial statements and related financial information of an economic entity, carried out by an audit organization in order to establish the reliability and compliance of the audited financial statements and related financial information with accounting legislation.

Reliability refers to the degree of accuracy of financial reporting data, which allows, based on these reports, to draw objective conclusions about the financial position and results of the financial and economic activity of an economic entity.

An audit is carried out mandatorily or at an initiative, subject to compliance with the restrictions provided for in Article 34 of this Law.

An audit using state secrets and other secrets protected by law is carried out only after taking measures to protect thereof in accordance with the law.

Examinations carried out in a manner different from the requirements of this Law shall not be an audit.

Aa audit organizations may provide the following related services:

setting up, restoration, conducting accounting and preparation of financial statements, including preparation of financial statements in accordance with international financial reporting standards;

performing the functions of a revision commission (financial inspector) of a legal entity, trustee of investment assets;

advising on accounting and financial reporting;

where an audit organization has a tax consultant on its staff or engages one on a contractual basis, to provide advice on the application of tax legislation, calculations of taxes and fees, and preparation of declarations, as well as to issue an opinion on the fulfillment of tax obligations for a taxpayer whose annual turnover has not exceeded ten billion soums over the last three years and whose tax risk level is assessed as medium, for the period following the last tax audit for which the statute of limitations for claims has not expired, in the event of voluntary liquidation of such taxpayer;

analysis of financial and economic activities and financial planning, including the preparation of business plans, economic, financial and management consulting;

conducting seminars, conferences on accounting, auditing and financial reporting, taxation, analysis of financial and economic activities and financial planning;

developing recommendations for the automation of accounting and financial reporting, information security of financial information;

to carry out an assessment of banks’ assets and liabilities, as well as off-balance sheet items.

An audit organization may provide other related services stipulated by the standards of auditing.

An audit organization is prohibited from auditing:

an economic entity that is a creditor, insurer of this audit organization, as well as an economic entity of which this audit organization and its auditors are founders, participants, shareholders;

an economic entity, a founder, participant, shareholder or a person exercising managerial functions or functions of accounting and financial management, or member of the audit committee of which is at the same time an employee of this audit organization;

an economic entity, to which this audit organization provided related services, during the period covered by the audit, specified in paragraphs two and three of part one of Article 33 of this Law;

an economic entity, whose founder, participant or a person exercising managerial functions or functions of accounting and financial management, or a member of the audit committee is a close relative of an employee of this audit organization;

in the event of a conflict of interest in which the interest of the audit organization or the auditor could affect the opinion on the financial statements and related financial information.

An audit organization may not conduct an audit of the same economic entity for more than seven consecutive years.

The following organizations are subject to a mandatory annual audit:

joint stock companies;

banks and other credit organizations;

insurance organizations;

agricultural cooperatives;

investment and other funds accumulating funds of legal entities and individuals, and their trustee managers of investment assets;

charitable, public and other funds, the sources of which consist of contributions from legal entities and individuals (except for public funds that have had no cash turnover in their bank accounts during one calendar year);

business entities with a state-owned share in the authorized fund (authorized capital);

exchanges;

commercial organizations that simultaneously satisfy two of the following conditions as of the end of the reporting year: the book value of assets in excess of one hundred thousand times the base calculating value, proceeds from the sale of products (works, services) are more than two hundred thousand times the base calculating value, the average annual number of staff is over one hundred employees.

Audit organizations that meet the following criteria are allowed to conduct a mandatory audit of the organizations specified in part one of this article:

the presence in the staff of at least two auditors with continuous work experience of at least three consecutive years or with an international accountant certificate;

the absence of violations of the legislation on audit activity according to the results of external quality control of the audit organization.

An audit of banks is carried out by audit organizations that have at least two auditors on the staff who have an auditor's qualification certificate for the right to conduct audits of banks.

The economic entities specified in part one of this article are the customers of the mandatory audit.

The economic entities specified in part one of this article shall submit to the tax authorities within fifteen days after the mandatory audit, but no later than June 15 of the year following the reporting year, a copy of the audit report.

Evasion from a mandatory audit in accordance with the law entails the application of an administrative penalty to an official of an economic entity.

As an evasion of an economic entity from a mandatory audit shall be recognized a failure to conduct an audit of the annual financial statements before June 15 of the year following the reporting year, and the absence of the relevant auditor's report.

Failure to conduct a mandatory audit before the end of the calendar year after the application of an administrative penalty by the tax authorities entails the collection of a fine from the economic entity in the amount of hundred times the base calculating value. In case of evasion of an economic entity from voluntary payment of a fine, the issue of applying legal measures to an economic entity is considered by the economic court.

Payment of a fine does not exempt an economic entity from conducting a mandatory audit.

A legal entity, its owner, participants and shareholders holding at least five percent of a share in the authorized fund (authorized capital), as well as supervisory or law enforcement bodies, may act as customers of an initiative audit.

An audit initiated by regulatory or law enforcement authorities is carried out and paid for on the basis of a contract concluded between the audit organization and these agencies. At the same time, it is not allowed to re-engage the same audit organization by the regulatory or law enforcement authorities to audit the activities of the same economic entity on the same grounds.

Payment for conducting an audit at an initiative is made at the expense of the person or body that initiated the audit.

The subject, terms and other conditions for conducting an audit at an initiative are determined by an audit contract concluded between the customer of the audit and the audit organization.

An audited economic entity has the right to receive from the audit organization:

the auditor’s report;

explanations of the opinion expressed in the auditor's report and information on the regulatory legal acts on which the opinion of the auditing organization is based;

consultations on the procedure for maintaining accounting records, drawing up financial statements and correcting detected deficiencies and violations.

An audited economic entity is obliged to:

create conditions for the auditor to conduct an audit within the timeframes specified in the audit contract and provide access to the necessary documentation;

comply with the obligations arising from the audit contract;

consider information about the violations identified during the audit and, no later than thirty days from the date of receipt of this information in writing, inform the audit organization about the results;

eliminate violations of accounting, preparation of financial statements and the procedure for calculating taxes and fees identified in the course of the audit.

An economic entity does not have the right to commit any actions (inaction) in order to evade or hinder the conduct of an audit carried out in accordance with this Law.

An economic entity may have other rights and bear other obligations in accordance with the legislation and an audit contract concluded with the audit organization.

The customer of an audit at an initiative has the right to:

independently choose an audit organization;

determine the direction and scope of the audit;

receive from the auditing organization the necessary information about the regulatory legal acts on which the auditor's opinion is based;

receive the auditor's report.

The customer of an audit at an initiative is obliged to:

create appropriate conditions for the auditor to conduct the audit within the time frame specified in the audit contract;

provide the auditor with the necessary documentation;

make timely payment for the services of the audit organization in accordance with the audit contract.

The customer of an audit at an initiative may have other rights and bear other obligations in accordance with the legislation and an audit contract.

An auditor's report is a document containing a written opinion of an auditing organization on the reliability and compliance of financial statements with the requirements of accounting legislation.

The auditor's report must be numbered, signed page by page by the auditor (auditors), who performed the audit, and the head of the audit organization and accompanied by the attached financial statements on which the opinion of the audit organization is expressed.

The form and content of the auditor's report are determined by the standards of auditing.

An auditor’s report drawn up without conducting an audit or drawn up based on the results of an audit, but do not correspond to the content of the documents of an economic entity received and reviewed by the auditor (auditors) during the audit, shall be recognized as deliberately false.

The auditor's report is recognized as deliberately false by a court decision that has entered into legal force.

Drawing up a deliberately false auditor’s report entails the exclusion of the audit organization from the Register of audit organizations, termination of the certificate of the head of the audit organization and the certificates of auditors who took part in the audit, as well as bringing the perpetrators to justice in the manner prescribed by law.

The authorized state body maintains the Register of audit organizations in electronic form, which indicates:

name of an audit organization and its location (postal address);

phone number of an audit organization;

e-mail address and official website (if any) of an audit organization;

taxpayer identification number of an audit organization;

surname, name, patronymic of the head and auditors of an audit organization, number and date of issue of their certificates;

date of inclusion of an auditing organization in the Register of audit organizations;

grounds and date of exclusion from the Register of audit organizations.

The information contained in the Register of audit organizations is disclosed.

An audit organization sends an information statement and copies of records of employment (extracts from the interdepartmental hardware and software complex «Unified national labor system») of auditors by mail or in electronic form to the authorized state body for entering the data into the Register of audit organizations. The information statement contains the name of the audit organization, postal and e-mail address, website (if any), contact phone number, taxpayer identification number.

The inclusion of an audit organization in the Register of audit organizations is carried out by the authorized state body within five working days after considering the information provided by the audit organization.

The authorized state body refuses to include data on an audit organization in the Register of audit organizations in the following cases:

submission by an audit organization of inaccurate information;

non-compliance of an audit organization with the requirements of Article 27 of this Law.

An audit organization is excluded from the Register of audit organizations in the following cases:

liquidation of an audit organization;

carrying out other types of activities not related to audit activity, or changing the type of activity;

violation during an audit of restrictions, specified in Article 34 of this Law;

drawing up a deliberately false auditor's report;

disclosure of confidential information obtained during the provision of audit services;

the lack of a liability insurance policy of an audit organization for the implementation of audit activity;

failure to provide the authorized state body with the necessary documentation and information during external quality control of an audit organization.

Information on the exclusion of an audit organization from the Register of audit organizations shall be published in the media, as well as posted on the official website of the authorized state body.

The authorized state body maintains the Register of auditors, which indicates:

surname, name, patronymic of an auditor;

personal identification number of an individual;

place of work of an auditor;

number, date of issue of a certificate;

surname, first name and signature of the person who received the certificate, as well as the date of receipt and its validity period;

information on completion by an auditor of professional development courses;

name and date of issue of the international accountant certificate (if any);

information on the extension of the validity period, termination of validity, renewal of the certificate and the issuance of its duplicate.

The official website of the authorized state body contains disclosed information from the Register of auditors, which indicates:

surname, name, patronymic of an auditor;

number, date of issue of the certificate;

validity period of the certificate;

information on professional development of and auditor (as of the end of year);

information on the termination of the certificate or issuance of its duplicate.

Internal quality control of auditor’s work is a system of organizational measures carried out by an audit organization based on procedures to ensure that auditors and employees comply with the requirements of this Law.

Internal quality control of auditor’s work is carried out by an audit organization in accordance with the standards of auditing activity and is a prerequisite for the provision of audit services.

External quality control of audit organization’s work is a system of measures carried out by the authorized state body jointly with national public associations of auditors, aimed at identifying and subsequently preventing violations by audit organizations of the requirements of this Law and standards of auditing.

An audit organization may, on a voluntary basis, undergo external quality control by national public association of auditors. This type of control does not replace the external quality control carried out by the authorized state body in accordance with this Law.

If external quality control reveals violations in the work of an audit organization, the authorized state body shall have the right to apply the following enforcement measures against the audit organization:

issuing a notice obliging the audit organization to eliminate the identified violations and setting the deadline thereof;

applying to court on the grounds provided for in paragraphs three, four and five of part one of Article 43 of this Law;

deciding to exclude the audit organization from the Register of audit organizations in case of systematic (more than two times) violation of the requirements of Article 29 of this Law.

The results of external quality control of the work of an audit organization, indicating the measures taken on the identified violations, are published on the official websites of the authorized state body and national public associations of auditors.

Duration of an external quality control of audit organization's work should not exceed ten working days.

External quality control of audit organization's work is carried out based on the results of the risk analysis and assessment of the risk of violating of the requirements of this Law by an audit organization (hereinafter — risk level).

The level of risk is divided into three categories:

audit organizations with a high risk of committing violations;

audit organizations with a moderate risk of committing violations;

audit organizations with a low risk of committing violations.

The analysis of the risk level is carried out by the authorized state body annually, by February 1, except for cases of complaints from individuals or legal entities for actions (inaction) of an audit organization or an auditor.

When conducting external quality control of audit organization's work, interference in the financial and economic activities of the audit organization is not allowed.

Based on the information available to the authorized state body and national public associations of auditors, as well as information on the business reputation of the audit organization and auditors, the risk level is analyzed for the following aspect:

compliance by an audit organization with the requirements of Articles 27 and 29 of this Law;

complaints from individuals or legal entities for actions (inaction) of an audit organization that violates the requirements of this Law;

presence in the composition of the founders (participants) of an audit organization of individuals who were previously the founders (participants) of the audit organization, whose activities were terminated for violation of the legislation on audit activity;

low score received during the previous external quality control of the audit organization.

Key indicators of the performance of an audit organization are:

availability of an internal control system;

compliance with international standards for auditing, quality control, reviews, assignments for the provision of related services and the Code of ethics for professional accountants;

compliance with the legislation on combating the legalization of proceeds from crime, financing terrorism and financing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction;

membership in an international audit organization or association;

availability of a methodology for conducting audit, providing related services;

proper documentation of the results of the audit services rendered;

sufficient labor and time resources to conduct audits;

use of software products or information technologies for information processing;

completion by auditors of annual professional development courses;

absence of violations of the requirements of this Law;

absence of complaints from individuals or legal entities, as well as reasonable negative feedback on the activities of an audit organization, including in the media.

The authorized state body, in accordance with the legislation and international treaties of the Republic of Uzbekistan, carries out cooperation in the field of audit activities and exchanges information with international organizations on issues related to its powers.

Disputes arising from the implementation of audit activity are settled in the manner prescribed by law.

Persons guilty of violating the legislation on audit activity shall be liable in the prescribed manner.

1. Amend Appendix No.1 to the Resolution of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan of May 12, 2001, No.222-II «On the List of activities requiring licensing» (Bulletin of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan, 2002, no. 6-7, 105; 2003, no. 1, 8; Bulletin of the Chambers of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan, 2006, no. 4, 154; 2007, no. 7, 323, no. 9, 416; 2009, no. 9, 330; 2010, no. 9, 335, 341, no. 12, 470; 2011, no. 12/2, 364; 2012, no. 4, 105, no. 12, 336; 2013, no. 4, 98; 2014, no. 12, 343; 2018, no. 1, 1, 4, no. 7, 431, no. 10, 670, 677; 2019, no. 7, 389, no. 8, 471, no. 11, 792; 2020, no. 1, 3, 4, no. 3, 203) as follows:

delete paragraph three;

paragraphs thirty four — sixty two shall be considered paragraphs thirty three — sixty one, respectively.

2. Declare invalid:

1) Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan of December 9, 1992, No.734-XII «On audit activity» (Bulletin of the Supreme Council of the Republic of Uzbekistan, 1993, No.1, 15);

2) Resolution of the Supreme Council of the Republic of Uzbekistan of December 9, 1992, No.735-XII "On the procedure for the enforcement of the Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan «On audit activity» (Bulletin of the Supreme Council of the Republic of Uzbekistan, 1993, No. 1, 16);

3) Section VI of the Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan of April 15, 1999, No.772-I «On amendments and additions to some legislative acts of the Republic of Uzbekistan» (Bulletin of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan, 1999, No. 5, 124);

4) Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan of May 26, 2000, No.78-II «On Amendments and additions to the Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan «On audit activity» (Bulletin of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan, 2000, No. 5-6, 149);

5) Resolution of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan of May 26, 2000, No.79-II «On the enactment of the Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan «On audit activity» in a new edition» (Bulletin of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan, 2000, No.5-6, 150);

6) Clause 3 of Appendix No.2 to the Resolution of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan of May 12, 2001, No.222-II «On the List of activities requiring licensing» (Bulletin of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan, 2001, No.11-12, 222);

7) Section III of the Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan of December 13, 2002, No.447-II «On amendments and additions to some legislative acts of the Republic of Uzbekistan» (Bulletin of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan, 2003, No.1, 8);

8) Article 1 of the Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan of April 4, 2006 No.ЗРУ-28 «On amendments and additions to some legislative acts of the Republic of Uzbekistan in connection with the reduction of types and simplification of licensing procedures for carrying out entrepreneurial activities» (Bulletin of the Chambers of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan, 2006, No.4, 154);

9) Article 3 of the Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan of October 10, 2006 No.ЗРУ-59 «On amendments and additions to some legislative acts of the Republic of Uzbekistan in connection with improvement of the system of legal protection and liberalization of financial responsibility of business entities» (Bulletin of the Chambers of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan, 2006, No.10, 536);

10) Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan of September 17, 2007, No.ЗРУ-110 «On amendments and additions to the Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan «On audit activity» (Bulletin of the Chambers of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan, 2007, No.9, 417);

11) Article 3 of the Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan of September 9, 2009, No.ЗРУ-216 «On amendments to some legislative acts of the Republic of Uzbekistan in connection with the adoption of the Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan «On the securities market» (Bulletin of the Chambers of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan, 2009, No.9, 330);

12) Article 3 of the Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan of April 30, 2013, No.ЗРУ-352 «On amendments and additions to some legislative acts of the Republic of Uzbekistan» (Bulletin of the Chambers of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan, 2013, No.4, 98);

13) Article 2 of the Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan of May 14, 2014, No.ЗРУ-372 «On amendments and additions, as well as invalidating some legislative acts of the Republic of Uzbekistan» (Bulletin of the Chambers of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan, 2014, No.5, 130);

14) Article 2 of the Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan of August 20, 2015, No.ЗРУ-391 «On amendments and additions to some legislative acts of the Republic of Uzbekistan aimed at further strengthening the reliable protection of private property, business entities, removing barriers to their accelerated development» (Bulletin of Chambers Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan, 2015, No.8, 312);

15) Article 2 of the Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan of April 18, 2017, No.ЗРУ-429 «On amendments and additions to some legislative acts of the Republic of Uzbekistan» (Bulletin of the Chambers of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan, 2017, No.4, 137);

16) Article 2 of the Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan of January 15, 2019, No.ЗРУ-516 «On amendments and additions to some legislative acts of the Republic of Uzbekistan in connection with improvement of the mechanisms for combating economic crimes and financing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction» (Bulletin of the Chambers of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan, 2019, No.1, 5);

17) Article 4 of the Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan of December 3, 2019, No.ЗРУ-586 «On amendments to some legislative acts of the Republic of Uzbekistan in connection with improvement of the procedure for determining the amount of wages, pensions and other payments» (Bulletin of the Chambers of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan, 2019, No.12, 880);

18) Article 1 of the Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan of January 22, 2020, No.ЗРУ-603 «On amendments and additions to some legislative acts of the Republic of Uzbekistan» (Bulletin of the Chambers of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan, 2020, No.1, 4).

Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Uzbekistan and other stakeholder organizations are to ensure the execution, communication to the implementers and clarification among the public of the essence and meaning of this Law.

Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan is to:

bring government decisions in line with this Law;

ensure the revision and cancellation by the government bodies of their regulatory legal acts that contradict this Law.

This Law shall enter into force upon the expiration of three months from the date of its official publication.