Ann: ASIC Determination, page-65

Correct:

- the company must complete the accounts
- the auditor then issues the review opinion once the accounts are to their satisfaction
- the accounts together with the review opinion are only then lodged with ASIC.

To call them "reviewed half yearly accounts" is a bit of a misnomer because once the opinion is issued and the accounts are lodged, that is what they are, but they can't actually be called "reviewed" if they are still in the process of completion.

As for how long that might take, it could be days away, or it could be MUCH longer - check out HML, which has been suspended for almost a year, the thing in dispute in their accounts have been the valuations of investments, and the accounting firm which needs to sign off on the accounts is clearly seeking lots of additional information to be doubly sure they can comfortably sign off.

Taking on an audit or review of a company which is the subject of a raft of ASIC and ASX queries such as BIG is a high risk assignment for an accounting firm, because if they get it wrong or miss something, the consequences can be very public and costly. Whoever the firm is, they will be taking as much time as needed to make sure the company has ALL the information they need and that they can confidently sign off on the resulting accounting treatments.