​​(1) a profile and details of the applicant;

(2) a copy of registration certificate as a juristic person or as a group of persons;

(3) a copy of financial statement of the latest three years, or, in case of a registered group of persons, profit and loss statements of the latest three years;

(4) ​a profile and relevant details of the audit firm;

(5) a certification and consent letter of the audit firm (Form 61-2);       

​​​An auditor to be granted approval by the SEC shall possess qualifications of an individual person and of the firm to which the auditor is attached as prescribed by the regulations summarized below:

Individual Qualifications

(1) being a certified public accountant whose license is still valid; 

(2) being a leader of an audit firm or equivalent or being a partner of an audit firm or equivalent;

(3) having met either of the following audit experiences criteria;

​​(3a) General cases:

- having affixed signatures for giving audit opinions on financial reports of at least 2 business for not less than 1 year during the period of 5 years before filing an application for approval.  In this regard, such businesses shall involve a quantity and complexity of transactions that are sufficient for demonstrating knowledge and capacity of the auditor and audit engagement quality; and

- having cumulatively performed audit duties for at least 7 years; and having cumulatively worked as a signing partner, an engagement partner, an audit supervisor, or a final reviewer for not less than 4 years.​

(3b) Engagement partner of commercial banks:

- being an engagement partner of commercial banks under Financial Institutions Businesses Act for not less than 1 year during the period of 5 years before filing an application for approval; and

- having cumulatively performed audit duties for at least 7 years; and  having cumulatively worked as an engagement partner, an audit supervisor, or a final reviewer for commercial banks under Financial Institutions Businesses Act for not less than 4 years.

​(4) being attached to only one qualified audit firm; 

(5) not possessing any prohibited characteristics as prescribed by the SEC.

A​udit Firm Qualifications

(1​) having audit quality control system which is in compliance with the International Standards on Quality Management 1 (ISQM 1);

(2) havi​ng full-time CPAs and full-time assistant auditors as required by the SEC.​

(1) ​​being put under receivership by the court's order; or being an insolvent, incompetent or quasi-incompetent person;

(2) with an CPA license being suspended;

(3) ​having a record of being revoked from CPA status, unless where the reapproval has lapsed for a period of not less than three years prior to filing an application; 

(4) ​with a CPA license suspended during the last three years before filing an application, unless the cause of such suspension is the same as of the SEC's suspension or revocation of the approval as auditor in the capital market;

(5) ​​being suspended or revoked approval as auditor in the capital market or whose application in the duration of being declined from the SEC consideration;

(6) ​​ being named in a complaint by the SEC or financial institutions regulatory body or subject to any legal proceedings following such criminal complaint or having been sentenced to imprisonment by the court's final judgment except in the cases where the term of imprisonment or the suspension of sentence has lapsed for a period of not less than three years in connection with the commission of the following offences:

       ● ​dishonest acts in relation to accounting professions;

       ● ​​an offence regarding documents or accounts as specified, for example, by Section 312

         of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1992;

      ● ​​an offence regarding performance of audit as specified, for example, by Section 287
         of the​ Securities and Exchange Act of 1992;

               ● ​​an offence regarding unfair securities trading activities.

​​(7)​​ ​not having the following prohibited behaviors;

• ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​lack of professional ethics or violation of or non-compliance with the regulations under the law governing accounting professions and other additional regulations  prescribed by the law governing securities and exchange, or aiding or abetting  thereof;

• intentionally presenting false statements in material matters, or concealing material facts that should have been stated in any documents subject to be disclosed to the public or filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Capital Market Supervisory Board or the SEC Office; or aiding or abetting thereof;​

• ​​​dishonest or deceitful acts; or aiding or abetting thereof.
  ​​​If the aforesaid behaviors occurred more than ten years ago or such behavior is not severe to the extent that the person should not be entrusted to perform duty as auditor of entities in the capital market, the SEC may disregard such facts as a cause for consideration of prohibited characteristics of such auditor.

2.1.4 Post-Approval Duties

(1)​ ​​​Complying with the specified rules:

• ​​​​​performing an audit work in giving opinions on financial statements with responsibility in accordance with the professional code of ethics, regulations under the law governing accounting professions, and other additional regulations prescribed by the law governing securities and ​exchange;

• ​​​​providing an explanation or submitting any other information or taking any other ​          actions as required by the SEC.

 

(2) ​​​​Additional duties of the audit firm's leader: 

• ​​​​​performing an audit work in giving opinions on financial statements with accountability in accordance with the professional code of ethics and regulations;

• provisioning the audit quality control system in compliance with International Standards on Quality Management 1 (ISQM 1);

• monitoring associated auditors who are attached to the firm to perform an audit work in accordance with the professional code of ethics, regulations under the law governing accounting professions, and other additional regulations prescribed by the law governing securities and exchange;

• cooperating with and facilitating the SEC 's representative in inspecting the audit quality control system;

• ​providing an explanation or submitting any other information or taking any other actions as required by the SEC.

 

2.1.5 Termination of Approval ​

(1) the auditor notifies the SEC of the intention to terminate the performance of duty as an SEC-approved auditor;

(2) the auditor or the attaching audit firm lacks any specified qualifications;

(3) the auditor possesses any prohibited characteristics;

(4) the approval is revoked or suspended for the remaining approval period by the SEC.