s 79 Advocate and solicitor to deliver accountantโs report
(1) Every advocate and solicitor shall, unless exempted by the Bar Council, deliver to the Secretary of the Malaysian Bar with every application made by him for a Sijil Annual a report signed by an accountant, referred to as an โaccountantโs reportโ in this section. (2) The accountantโs report shallโ (a) state that the accountant in compliance with this section and any rules made thereunder has examined the books, accounts and documents of the firm of the advocate and solicitor for such accounting period as may be specified in the report; (b) state whether or not the accountant is satisfied, from his examination of the books, accounts and documents produced to him and from the information and explanations given to him, that during the said accounting period of the advocate and solicitor or his firm has complied with any rules made under subsection 78(1); (c) state, if the accountant is not satisfied, the matters in respect of which he is not so satisfied; (d) contain such information as may be prescribed by rules made by the Bar Council under this section; and (e) be delivered to the Secretary of the Malaysian Bar not more than twelve months (or such other period as may be prescribed by rules made under this section) after the end of the accounting period specified in the report. (3) Subject to any rules made under this section, the accounting period for the purposes of an accountantโs report shallโ (a) begin at the expiry of the last preceding accounting period for which an accountantโs report has been delivered or from the date the advocate and solicitor commenced practice as the case may be; (b) cover not less than twelve months; (c) terminate not more than twelve months before the date on which the report is delivered to the Bar Council; and (d) where possible, consistent with paragraphs (a), (b) and (c), correspond to a period or consecutive periods for which the accounts of the advocate and solicitor or his firm are ordinarily made up. (4) In this section โaccountantโ means an approved company auditor as defined in the Companies Act, 1965 [Act 125]. If in any particular case there shall not be an approved company auditor practising in the State in which an advocate and solicitor ordinarily practises and the Bar Council shall be of the view that by reason of the difficulty or expense involved in securing the services of an approved company auditor from outside such State it would be unreasonable to expect the advocate and solicitor to secure his service, the Bar Council may approve any other auditor whom it shall consider competent for the purposes of this section. (5) The Bar Council shall make rules to give effect to this section and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing such rules shall prescribe the nature and extent of the examination to be made by the accountant of the books and accounts of the firm of an advocate and solicitor and of any other relevant documents with a view to the preparation of the report to be delivered by the advocate and solicitor under this section. (6) Any such rules may include provisions forโ (a) permitting in any special circumstances as may be defined in the rules a different accounting period from that specified in subsection (3); and (b) regulating any matters of procedure or matters incidental, ancillary or supplemental to this section. (7) Any rules made by the Bar Council under this section shall not come into operation until they have been published in the Gazette. (8) Any advocate and solicitor who fails to comply with this section or any rules made thereunder may be liable to disciplinary proceedings. Compensation Fund