As you may be aware, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC” or “Commission”) pursuant to section 211(1) of the Securities Act, No. 41 of 2016 (“the Act”) issued in the gazette the Securities (Internal Controls Reporting Framework for Issuers of Registered Securities) Guidelines in July 2019. These guidelines were issued to provide guidance to issuers of registered securities and their auditors on the application of Section 146, 147 and 149 of the Act.
Since the issuance of the ICOFR Guidelines, a working group comprising of SEC and Zambia Institute of Chartered Accountants (ZICA) was constituted to assist in the implementation of the ICOFR framework. The working group has since held various engagements with issuers and their auditors to address concerns relating to the implementation of the ICOFR framework. One of the outcomes of the engagements is the revised ICOFR Guidelines which address the following issues: