Y Ventures chief financial officer resigns

Y VENTURES' chief financial officer has resigned but it is not related to the company's financial reporting or ongoing independent review, according to an exchange filing on Wednesday.

Joshua Huang Thien En, 37, is currently serving a one-month notice period and will effectively resign on July 15. The company's financial controller, Goh Lay Lan, will assume his role and responsibilities. 

Catalist-listed Y Ventures first made headlines in January when it revealed that accounting errors were discovered in its H1 2018 financial statements, leading it to report that it was profitable when it was in fact loss-making.

Following queries from the Singapore Exchange Regulation, the company appointed Deloitte & Touche Enterprise Risk Services as an independent reviewer to assess lapses in its internal controls and the impact of adjustments to prior years' financial statements.

"Mr Joshua Huang has confirmed that he is not aware of any concerns with regard to the financial reporting of the company and the independent review, which is currently still ongoing, that might have led to his resignation," said Y Ventures. 

Mr Huang, it added, has also agreed to continue to provide "all the relevant assistance that is necessary or required from Deloitte... and has further committed to do so until the completion of the independent review". 

The scope of the independent review includes scrutinising the "adequacy and effectiveness" of the group's internal controls for the financial period starting from Jan 1, 2014 to Dec 31, 2018. Deloitte will also specify any misstatements in the group's prior years' financial statements as disclosed in the company's initial public offering documents and to-date as a result of internal control lapses.

Among other things, the review will also include investigating the circumstances and responsible parties involved in the internal control lapses and misstatements, as well as any possible breaches of the listing rules, and either or both of the Companies Act and the Securities and Futures Act.