Sec. 2.
(a) An
independent certified public accountant or independent certified public
accounting firm selected to perform a financial statement audit must meet the
following qualifications and must affirm that it meets these qualifications as
part of a written agreement with the game operator licensee to perform the
audit:
(1) Be independent with respect to the
game operator licensee, its parents, and investors. Standards of independence
are to be determined by pronouncements of the American Institute of Certified
Public Accountants and the Securities and Exchange Commission.
(2) Have sufficient experience in the gaming
industry or related industries.
(3)
Have an adequate number of professional personnel to meet the requirements of
the engagement in a timely and efficient manner.
(b) An independent certified public
accountant or independent certified public accounting firm selected to perform
a financial statement audit must not express an opinion on financial statements
of a game operator licensee unless it is independent from that game operator
licensee. Impairments to independence include, but are not limited to, the
following:
(1) During the period of the
professional engagement to perform an audit, or at the time the opinion was
issued, the auditing person:
(A) had or was
committed to acquire any direct or material indirect financial interest in the
game operator licensee;
(B) was a
trustee of any trust or executor or administrator of any estate if the trust or
estate had or was committed to acquire any direct or material indirect
financial interest in the game operator licensee;
(C) had any joint closely held business
investment with the game operator licensee or any key person or substantial
owner thereof that was material in relation to the auditing person or the
auditing person's firm's net worth; or
(D) had any loan to or from the game operator
licensee or any key person or substantial owner thereof, when made under normal
lending procedures, terms, and requirements, except:
(i) loans that are not material to the net
worth of the borrower;
(ii) home
mortgages; and
(iii) other secured
loans, except loans guaranteed by the auditing person's firm that are otherwise
unsecured.
(2) During the period covered by the game
operator licensee's financial statements, during the period of the professional
engagement to perform an audit, or at the time the opinion is issued, the
auditing person was:
(A) connected with the
game operator licensee as a promoter, underwriter, voting trustee, key person,
or in any capacity equivalent to that of a key person or employee; or
(B) a trustee for any pension or
profit-sharing trust of the game operator licensee.
(3) Functioning as if a key person of the
game operator licensee.
(4)
Performing an audit of the independent certified public accountant or
independent certified public accounting firm's own work.
(5) Advocacy for the game operator
licensee.
(6) Having any other role
with the game operator licensee or affiliates other than as the independent
auditor.
(c) The same
certified public accountant may not perform more than two (2) consecutive
financial audits for a game operator under this rule.
