Cap. 281 Art. 14Administrative fines, sanctions and measures.

(1) In the case of a breach of any rules under this Act or any regulations or directives issued under it, the Board shall have the power to issue administrative fines and reprimands, and to take such other measures as it may deem appropriate according to the circumstances of the case.

(2) The Board shall have the power to take and, or impose at least the following administrative measures and sanctions for breaches of the provisions of the rules under this Act and, where applicable, the Audit Regulation:

(a) a notice requiring the natural or legal person responsible for the breach to cease the conduct and to abstain from any repetition of that conduct;

(b) a public statement which indicates the person responsible and the nature of the breach, published on the website of the Board;

(c) a temporary prohibition, of up to three years’ duration, banning the statutory auditor, the audit firm or the key audit partner from carrying out statutory audits and, or signing audit reports;

(d) a declaration that the audit report does not meet the requirements of article 179A of the Companies Act or, where applicable, article 179B of that Act;

(e) a temporary prohibition, of up to three years’ duration, banning a member of an audit firm from exercising functions in audit firms or public-interest entities;

(f) the imposition of administrative pecuniary sanctions on natural and legal persons.

(3) When determining the type and level of administrative sanctions and measures mentioned in sub-article (1), article 7(17) and article 15, the Board and, or the disciplinary committees appointed in terms of article 7(16) shall take into account all relevant circumstances, including where appropriate:

(a) the gravity and the duration of the breach;

(b) the degree of responsibility of the responsible person;

(c) the financial strength of the responsible person, for the responsible person, in so far as they can be determined;

(e) the level of cooperation of the responsible person with the Board;

(f) previous breaches by the responsible legal or natural person. Additional factors may be taken into account by the Board and, or the disciplinary committees appointed in terms of article 7(16) where such factors are specified in a legal provision, regulation or Directive.