The SGX is asking for the power to order a listed company to appoint a second auditor, in addition to the existing one, in "exceptional circumstances". In addition, the SGX will propose a change in the listing rules to require all listed companies to appoint a Singapore-based auditor. "This will give us more regulatory traction, access to working papers and accountability. We are formalising this. Going forward, this will become a requirement," SGX Regulation CEO Tan Boon Gin said. Currently, some 15 to 20 listed companies do not have Singapore-based auditors. The move comes in the wake of the near-collapse of Singapore-listed Noble Group, once Asia's biggest commodity trader, which was given a clean bill of health for three years even as an attack on its accounting practices was sending its shares plummeting. Some market observers were critical of Singapore regulators, saying they did not do enough to protect minority investors as the Noble saga unfolded.

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The Straits Times