Approval of accounting firms
18.—(1) A public accountant who wishes to have a firm or proposed firm approved as an accounting firm may apply to the Oversight Committee for approval of—
- (a) the firm as an accounting firm; and
- (b) the name or proposed name of the accounting firm.
(2) An application under subsection (1) shall be made in accordance with the prescribed requirements and shall be accompanied by the prescribed fee.
(3) The Oversight Committee may, on receiving an application made under this section, approve the firm or proposed firm concerned as an accounting firm if and only if—
- (a) one of the primary objects of the firm or proposed firm is to provide public accountancy services;
- (b) at least two-thirds, or such other proportion as may be prescribed, of the partners are public accountants, or if the partnership has only 2 partners, one of those partners is a public accountant; and
- (c) the business of the partnership, so far as it relates to the supply of public accountancy services in Singapore, will be under the control and management of a partner who is a public accountant ordinarily resident in Singapore.
Name of accounting corporation or accounting firm
19.—(1) The Oversight Committee shall not approve the name or proposed name, or any proposed change in the name, of an accounting corporation or accounting firm if it is of the opinion that the name or proposed name—
- (a) is undesirable;
- (b) is so similar or identical to the name of an existing accounting corporation or accounting firm or any other existing company or firm registered under the Companies Act (Cap. 50) or the Business Registration Act (Cap. 32) as to be likely to cause confusion; or
