We have audited the consolidated and separate financial statements of AfrAsia Bank Limited (the “Bank” and the “Public Interest Entity”) and its subsidiary (the “Group”) set out on pages 147 to 266, which comprise the consolidated and separate statements of financial position as at 30 June 2021, and the consolidated and separate statements of profit or loss and other comprehensive income, consolidated and separate statements of changes in equity and consolidated and separate statements of cash flows for the year then ended, and notes to the consolidated and separate financial statements, including a summary of significant accounting policies.

In our opinion, the accompanying consolidated and separate financial statements give a true and fair view of the financial position of the Group and the Bank as at 30 June 2021, and of their consolidated and separate financial performance and consolidated and separate cash flows for the year then ended in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs), and comply with the requirements of the Mauritius Companies Act 2001, the Financial Reporting Act 2004 and the Banking Act 2004.

We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (ISAs). Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the Auditor’s Responsibilities for the Audit of the Consolidated and Separate Financial Statements section of our report. We are independent of the Group and the Bank in accordance with the International Ethics Standards Boards for Accountants’ Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants (including International Independence Standards) (the “IESBA Code”) and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with IESBA Code. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.

Key audit matters are those matters, in our professional judgement, were of most significance in our audit of the consolidated and separate financial statements of the current period. These matters were addressed in the context of our audit of the consolidated and separate financial statements as a whole, and in forming our opinion thereon, and we do not provide a separate opinion on these matters. The key audit matters noted below relate to the consolidated and separate financial statements.

The directors are responsible for the other information. The other information comprises the Chairperson’s Message, Interim Chief Executive Officer’s Message, Corporate Governance Report, Management Discussion and Analysis, Risk Management Report, Statement of Management’s Responsibility for Financial Reporting and Certificate from the Company Secretary, but, does not include the consolidated and separate financial statements and our auditor’s report thereon.

Our opinion on the consolidated and separate financial statements do not cover the other information and we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon.

In connection with our audit of the consolidated and separate financial statements, our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the audit, or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If, based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, we are required to report that fact. We have nothing to report in this regard.

Our responsibility under Financial Reporting Act 2004 is to report on the compliance with the Code of Corporate Governance disclosed in the annual report and assess the explanations given for non-compliance with any requirement of the Code. From our assessment of the disclosures made on corporate governance in the annual report, the Public Interest Entity has, pursuant to section 75 of the Financial Reporting Act 2004, complied with the requirements of the Code.

The directors are responsible for the preparation and fair presentation of the consolidated and separate financial statements in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards, and in compliance with the requirements of the Mauritius Companies Act 2001, the Banking Act 2004, and the Financial Reporting Act 2004 and they are also responsible for such internal control as the directors determine is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.

In preparing the consolidated and separate financial statements, the directors are responsible for assessing the Group’s and Bank’s ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless the directors either intend to liquidate the Group and/or the Bank or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.

The directors are responsible for overseeing the Group’s and the Bank’s financial reporting process.

Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the consolidated and separate financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an auditor’s report that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance, but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with ISAs will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these consolidated and separate financial statements.

As part of an audit in accordance with ISAs, we exercise professional judgement and maintain professional scepticism throughout the audit. We also:

•  Identify and assess the risks of material misstatement of the consolidated and separate financial statements, whether due to fraud or error, design and perform audit procedures responsive to those risks, and obtain audit evidence that is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion. The risk of not detecting a material misstatement resulting from fraud is higher than for one resulting from error, as fraud may involve collusion, forgery, intentional omissions, misrepresentations, or the override of internal control.
• Obtain an understanding of internal control relevant to the audit in order to design audit procedures that are appropriate in the circumstances, but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the Group’s and/or Bank’s internal control.
• Evaluate the appropriateness of accounting policies used and the reasonableness of accounting estimates and related disclosures made by management.
• Conclude on the appropriateness of the directors’ use of the going concern basis of accounting and, based on the audit evidence obtained, whether a material uncertainty exists related to events or conditions that may cast significant doubt on the Group’s and the Bank’s ability to continue as a going concern. If we conclude that a material uncertainty exists, we are required to draw attention in our auditor’s report to the related disclosures in the consolidated and separate financial statements or, if such disclosures are inadequate, to modify our opinion. Our conclusions are based on the audit evidence obtained up to the date of our auditor’s report. However, future events or conditions may cause the Group and/or the Bank to cease to continue as a going concern.
• Evaluate the overall presentation, structure and content of the consolidated and separate financial statements, including the disclosures, and whether the consolidated and separate financial statements represent the underlying transactions and events in a manner that achieves fair presentation.
• Obtain sufficient appropriate audit evidence regarding the financial information of the entities or business activities within the Group to express an opinion on the consolidated financial statements. We are responsible for the direction, supervision and performance of the group audit. We remain solely responsible for our audit opinion.

We communicate with those charged with governance regarding, among other matters, the planned scope and timing of the audit and significant audit findings, including any significant deficiencies in internal control that we identify during our audit.

We also provide those charged with governance with a statement that we have complied with relevant ethical requirements regarding independence, and to communicate with them all relationships and other matters that may reasonably be thought to bear on our independence, and where applicable, related safeguards.

From the matters communicated with those charged with governance, we determine those matters that were of most significance in the audit of the consolidated and separate financial statements of the current year and are therefore the key audit matters. We describe those matters in our auditor’s report unless laws or regulation precludes public disclosure about the matter or when, in extremely rare circumstances, we determine that a matter should not be communicated in our report because the adverse consequences of doing so would reasonably be expected to outweigh the public interest benefits of such communication

The Mauritius Companies Act 2001

In accordance with the requirements of the Mauritius Companies Act 2001, we report as follows:

• we have no relationship with, or interest in, the Bank and its subsidiary other than in our capacity as auditor;
• we have obtained all information and explanations that we have required; and
• in our opinion, proper accounting records have been kept by the Bank as far as appears from our examination of those records.

 The Banking Act 2004

In our opinion, the financial statements have been prepared on a basis consistent with that of the preceding year and are complete, fair and properly drawn up and comply with the provisions of the Banking Act 2004 and the regulations and guidelines issued by Bank of Mauritius; and the explanations or information called for or given to us by the officers or agents of the Bank were satisfactory.

This report is made solely to the Bank’s shareholders, as a body, in accordance with section 205 of the Mauritius Companies Act 2001. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the Bank’s shareholders those matters we are required to state to them in an auditor’s report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the Bank and the Bank’s shareholders as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed