Code of Ethics for Financial Statement Preparers and Auditors of Subject Entities

Article 1 — Glossary ¶

ADAA or Authority Abu Dhabi Accountability Authority
ADAA Law, or Law Law no. 19 of 2020 pertaining to the reorganization of ADAA, as
amended by Law No. (9) of 2022.
SAAR Rules for appointing the Statutory Auditors of Subject Entities,
issued as per Chairman of Abu Dhabi Accountability Authority
Resolution No. (53) of 2020 Pertaining to the Statutory Auditors
Appointment Rules for Entities Subject to Abu Dhabi
Accountability Authority.
Auditors A natural or legal person registered by the Ministry or the
competent authority to practice the profession, and responsible
for auditing the financial statements of Subject Entities.
Audit Firm or firms Statutory Auditors or network firm relating to the list of Statutory
Auditors prepared, approved, and periodically amended by ADAA.
Network firms Network firm means a firm or entity that belongs to a network.
Network means a larger structure:
a. That is aimed at cooperation; and
b. That is clearly aimed at profit or cost sharing or shares
common ownership, control or management, common
quality control policies and procedures, common business
strategy, the use of a common brand-name, or significant
part of professional resources.
Subject Entity Entities subject to the Authority’s mandate in accordance with the
provisions of ADAA Law
Audit partner A person who is a partner in an audit firm or a person who has
equivalent responsibility, who is a member of the engagement
team, other than a specialist or technical partner or equivalent
who consults with others on the engagement team regarding
technical or industry specific issues, transactions or events.
Those charged with
governance
The party responsible for overseeing the strategic direction of the
entity and obligations related to the accountability of the entity
(for example: Entity chairman; board of directors, audit
committee, etc.).

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مرفق ق رار رئيس جهاز أبوظب ي للم حاسبة رقم ( 27 ) لسنة 2023 بشأن قواعد السلوك األخالقي للمسؤولين عن إعداد التقارير المالية ومدققي الحسابات في الجهات الخاضعة .
Contingent fees A fee calculated on a predetermined basis relating to the outcome
of a transaction or the result of the services performed by the
firm. A fee that is established by a court or other public authority
is not a contingent fee.
Sovereign wealth
funds
A state-owned investment fund, or equivalent.
Collective
investment schemes
Any arrangements with respect to property of any description,
including money, the purpose or effect of which is to enable
persons taking part in the arrangements (whether by becoming
owners of the property or any part of it or otherwise) to
participate in or receive profits or income arising from the
acquisition, holding, management or disposal of the property or
sums paid out of such profits or income.
Financial Market
infrastructure
Multilateral system among participating financial institutions,
including the operator of the system, used for the purposes of
recording, clearing or settling payments, securities, derivatives or
other financial transactions.

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مرفق ق رار رئيس جهاز أبوظب ي للم حاسبة رقم ( 27 ) لسنة 2023 بشأن قواعد السلوك األخالقي للمسؤولين عن إعداد التقارير المالية ومدققي الحسابات في الجهات الخاضعة .

Article 2 — Introduction ¶

Abu Dhabi Accountability Authority (“ADAA” or the “Authority”) has resolved to approve the
adoption of the 2022 version of the “Handbook of The International Code of Ethics for Professional
Accountants” including International Independence Standards as issued by the International Ethics
Standards Board for Accountants (IESBA), hereinafter referred to as the “IESBA Handbook” or
“Handbook”.
Furthermore, the ADAA has issued this Code of Ethics For Financial Statement preparers and
auditors of subject entities (the “Code”) which introduces additional ethical requirements, as set
forth in Article 5 below of the Code with a view to promoting the principles of integrity,
transparency, accountability, and sound management practices in ADAA’s Subject Entities; and to
further improves the quality of audit work performed on the said entities.

Article 3 — Scope ¶

This Code applies to preparers of financial statements in Subject Entities and to all auditors of
Subject Entities.
Any other parties can voluntarily adopt and comply with this Code. However, in such instance, ADAA
does not accept any liability to any party for any loss, error, damage or costs howsoever arising
from voluntarily adopting said Code.

Article 4 — Effective date ¶

This Code is effective for financial statements for the fiscal year ended 31 December 2023 and
onwards.

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مرفق ق رار رئيس جهاز أبوظب ي للم حاسبة رقم ( 27 ) لسنة 2023 بشأن قواعد السلوك األخالقي للمسؤولين عن إعداد التقارير المالية ومدققي الحسابات في الجهات الخاضعة .

Article 5 — Additional Ethical requirements ¶

5.1 Public Interest Entities
5.1.1 Definition
In addition to the definition of Public Interest Entities (PIE) in the IESBA Handbook in
paragraph R400.17 thereof, the following entities shall be regarded as generally satisfying
the PIE conditions set forth in the Handbook and thus the following entities shall be
considered as PIE:
• Investment Funds that hold or are otherwise responsible for safeguarding client assets,
including sovereign wealth funds, collective investment schemes, and pension funds.
• Financial market infrastructure.
• Companies established by law and wholly owned directly by Abu Dhabi government
(100%).
• Abu Dhabi government departments.
• Government entities with regulatory authorities according to their mandates.
• Entities that manage or operate strategic or regulated assets important for the public
interest.
• Any entity designated as PIE by ADAA.

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مرفق ق رار رئيس جهاز أبوظب ي للم حاسبة رقم ( 27 ) لسنة 2023 بشأن قواعد السلوك األخالقي للمسؤولين عن إعداد التقارير المالية ومدققي الحسابات في الجهات الخاضعة .
5.2 Fees
5.2.1 Disclosure of fees
Those responsible for preparation of financial statements of subject entities, regardless of
their consideration as public or non-public interest entities, shall ensure that the total
amount of fees paid by the entity and its affiliates for assurance and non-assurance services
are disclosed in the notes to the consolidated financial statements, as well as the notes to
the standalone financial statements of the affiliates, and that they are appropriately
classified in the following categories:
1.1 Audit of financial statements.
1.2 Other assurance services.
1.3 Non-assurance services required to be performed by the auditor according to
applicable laws and regulations.
1.4 All other non-assurance services.
The auditor shall ensure the accuracy of the fees reported as a note to the financial
statements, as part of their overall responsibilities in relation to the audit work performed
on the financial statement disclosures; and in the case of omission of such disclosure, the
auditor shall determine the effect of such omission on the auditor’s opinion according to
the requirements of
ISA 250 (Revised), Consideration Of Laws And Regulations In An Audit
Of Financial Statements, and
ISA 700 (Revised), Forming An Opinion And Reporting On
Financial Statements.
The preparers of financial statements of Subject Entities can elect to include the above
disclosure in a document accompanying the statutory financial statements such as the
annual report. In which case the auditor shall ensure the accuracy of the fees reported as
per the requirements of
ISA 720 (Revised), The Auditor’s Responsibilities Relating to Other
Information.
5.2.2 Contingent Fees
In addition to the provisions of IESBA Handbook, a firm or a network firm shall not charge
directly or indirectly a contingent fee for any services provided to a subject entity that is
an audit client.

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مرفق ق رار رئيس جهاز أبوظب ي للم حاسبة رقم ( 27 ) لسنة 2023 بشأن قواعد السلوك األخالقي للمسؤولين عن إعداد التقارير المالية ومدققي الحسابات في الجهات الخاضعة .
5.2.3 Total Fees - Proportion of Fees for Services other than Audit to Audit Fee
According to paragraphs 410.11 A1 to 410.11 A3 of the Handbook, audit firms need to assess
the potential threats that may arise as a result of the proportion of fees for services other
than audit to audit fee.
Those charged with responsibility for governance at subject entity level, need to approve
any services other than audit and fees charged therefor while assessing the independence
of audit firms in respect of the various threats to independence that may arise from these
services and the proportion of fees for services other than audit to audit fee.
5.2.4 Total Fees - Fee Dependency
The total compensation to be received in aggregate by an audit firm on ADAA’s approved
list of auditors from the subject entity for audit work and other services other than audit,
shall not exceed the following thresholds of the firm’s total revenue-taking at the level of
its office:
• In the case of PIE: shall not exceed 15%.
• In case of Non-PIE: shall not exceed 30%.
5.3 Provision of Non-assurance Services to an Audit Client
In line with the IESBA Handbook, the audit firm may provide non-assurance services to audit
clients, subject to the relevant requirements and application material set out in Section 600
of the said Handbook. The audit firm and those charged with governance should consider
all laws and regulations applicable to the subject entity and related to the provision of non-
assurance services that may go beyond the requirements of this Code, and should comply
with the more stringent provision.
Audit firms of all subject entities, regardless of their consideration as public or non-public
interest entities, shall apply the requirements set out in paragraphs R600.21 to R600.24 of
the IESBA Handbook, and obtain the approval of those charged with governance, before
accepting any engagement to provide non-assurance services.

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مرفق ق رار رئيس جهاز أبوظب ي للم حاسبة رقم ( 27 ) لسنة 2023 بشأن قواعد السلوك األخالقي للمسؤولين عن إعداد التقارير المالية ومدققي الحسابات في الجهات الخاضعة .
5.4 Non-compliance with Laws and Regulations
For the auditor of the subject entity to carry out the audit work in line with the
responsibilities stipulated in the IESBA Handbook as well as International Standards on
Auditing, it is expected from management of the subject entity to have a process for the
continuous monitoring of the identification of all applicable relevant laws and regulations,
as well as for the entity’s compliance with such laws and regulations.
If the auditor determines that management is not maintaining such process that enables
effective monitoring and compliance with laws and regulations, the auditor shall carry out
audit procedures to comply with
ISA 250 (Revised), Consideration Of Laws And Regulations
In An Audit Of Financial Statements.
5.4.1 Independence declaration
A declaration of independence signed by the engagement partner and all partners who are
taking part in the audit and the team members in accordance with SAAR guidelines, shall
be provided by the Auditor when submitting the audit services proposals, and shall be
provided annually upon reappointment before commencing the audit engagement.