Article 31 of the Saudi Accredited Valuers Law

This article regulates external financial oversight of the Authority through the auditor.

1. Appointment:

• The general assembly appoints the auditor each year.
• The auditor is from among the certified accountants licensed in the Kingdom.
• The general assembly sets the auditor's fees.
• It may reappoint the auditor or choose another.

2. The auditor's powers:

• The right to inspect the books and documents.
• Making whatever observations the auditor sees fit.

3. Duties:

• Auditing the Authority's accounts.
• Submitting a report on them to the general assembly.

4. Exception for the first financial year: the board of directors appoints the auditor for the first financial year and sets the auditor's fees. The practical reason is that the general assembly may not have been fully formed at the start of the Authority's work.

What the rule indicates: placing the appointment in the hands of the general assembly rather than the board of directors, except in the first year, strengthens the auditor's independence from the body whose accounts are audited.

Relationship to other articles:

• Article 30 sets the Authority's resources, such as members' subscriptions, government subsidies, accepted gifts, investment returns, fees for services and licenses, and amounts collected from violations, which are among the funds the audit covers.
• Article 32 sets the penalties applied to anyone who violates the provisions of the law, such as a warning, a reprimand, suspension and a fine.

The article is organizational and concerns the Authority's financial governance.