376.E保险公司内部控制存在的问题及对策 外文原文.doc

http:/www.e-to-SSE Urges Listed Companies to Improve Internal Control System2009-01-16 11:33:36Format guideline for internal control reports, compilation guideline for social responsibility reports launched recentlyTo regulate the compilation and examination of the self-evaluation reports on internal control and the reports on the fulfillment of social responsibilities in annual reports by listed companies' directorates, the Listed Company Department of the Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE), after researching with some listed companies, has formulated the format guideline for internal control reports, the compilation guideline for social responsibility reports as well as the working paper for listed companies' directors to examine the internal control reports and the social responsibility reports. Recently, the SSE has already issued the above guidelines and examination working paper to the listed companies in the form of memorandum on annual report.Enterprises may disclose the basic elements of internal control based on actual conditionsIn the "Notice of Doing a Better Job for Disclosing 2008 Annual Reports", the SSE has prescribed that the 259 SSE-listed companies which are in the SSE Corporate Governance Sector or issue foreign capital stocks listed abroad and the financial companies should disclose the directorates' self-evaluation reports of the internal control and the reports on the fulfillment of social responsibilities together with the annual reports of 2008; other qualified listed companies are encouraged to do so.In line with the above regulation, the memorandum requires that the listed companies to disclose the internal control reports shall compile the reports according to the format guidance; the listed companies to disclose the social responsibility reports shall compile the reports according to the compilation guidance. For a company to disclose the internal control report and the social responsibility report, its directorate shall make resolutions respectively.According to the memorandum, any listed company to disclose the internal control report or the social responsibility report shall submit the corresponding examination working paper to all directors upon the issuance of the notice on the directorate's meeting to examine the annual report at the latest. The directors shall fill in the working paper on their own, which specifies the essential contents to which the directors shall pay attention before the examination as the ground for the examination. The listed companies shall provide convenience for the directors to fill in the working paper and keep the working paper as part of the directorate's meeting minutes according to the regulations. Besides, the listed companies are encouraged to engage auditing institutions for verification and evaluation of their internal control, and to disclose the opinions of the auditing institutions.The SSE's format guidelines for two reports are up to the standard of "concise content, definite responsibilities, clear questions". The format guideline for the "Directorates' Self-evaluation Reports of Internal Control" requires that a listed company should disclose the internal control goal, the inherent limitations and the basic elements to be considered in establishing and implementing the internal control system. The basic elements refer to the eight elements prescribed in the "SSE Guidelines for Internal Control of Listed Companies", namely, goal setting, internal environment, risk identification, risk evaluation, risk management strategy selection, control activities, information communication, inspection and monitoring, or the five elements prescribed in the "Basic Standard for Enterprises' Internal Control" by the Ministry of Finance, i.e., internal environment, risk evaluation, control activities, information communication and internal supervision. Enterprises may disclose the basic elements of their internal control according to the actual conditions.The internal control report shall also specify whether a company has significant deficiencies from January 1 of the current year to the end of the report period. The significant deficiencies refer to the design or execution deficiencies of the internal control that have serious negative influence or potential one on the internal control goal, including but not limited to the significant untruth, inaccuracy or incompleteness of the accounting statements and annotations; under penalty by relevant authorities or regulatory institutions; significant losses due to ineffective internal control; fraud of senior management. In case of these deficiencies, the report shall specify the rectification measures the company has taken, the significant deficiencies under rectification and the expected completion time of the rectification.The compilation guideline for the "Reports on Fulfillment of Social Responsibilities" requires that a listed company shall, in accordance with its actual conditions and the experience of compiling relevant reports, decide the title and contents of the report, including but not limited to the social responsibility report, the sustainable development report, the environmental responsibility report and the corporate citizen report. Moreover, the guideline lists the issues to which a listed company needs to pay attention in compiling the social responsibility report. A company may disclose the social contribution value per share according to relevant notice, but such company shall simultaneously disclose the calculation standard of social cost.SSE plans to launch "Social Responsibility Index"According to an official of the SSE's Listed Company Department, the SSE-listed companies started to disclose according to the internal control guideline in the annual reports of 2007, where 139 companies disclosed the internal control reports, while some large companies started to disclose the social responsibility reports. However, the lack of a unified format led to the format and length disparity among different companies' internal control reports and social responsibility reports, making it difficult to make comparisons. To tackle that problem, the SSE launched the unified format standard. Also, to enhance the examination efficiency and responsibilities of the listed companies' directors, the SSE introduced the working paper of examination, suggesting the key contents in examining the two reports.The official said that the "Basic Standard for Enterprises' Internal Control" jointly issued by five authorities last June will be implemented among the listed companies since July 1, 2009, so more and more listed companies are actively establishing and improving their internal control systems. By requiring some companies to disclose the internal control reports and the social responsibility reports together with the annual reports, a prevailing rule of the international capital market, the SSE is paving the road for the overall implementation of the "Basic Standard for Enterprises' Internal Control".The official said that the SSE is planning to launch the "Social Responsibility Index" based on the social contribution value per share, whose constituents will be selected from the constituents of the Corporate Governance Index.Source:Shanghai Securities News