EX-15.4 9 exhibit15-4.htm EXHIBIT 15.4

Exhibit 15.4

CHARTER
FOR
THE AUDIT COMMITTEE
OF
THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

I. MANDATE

The Audit Committee (the “Committee”) of the Board of Directors (the “Board”) of EMX Royalty Corporation (the “Company”) shall assist the Board in fulfilling its financial oversight responsibilities by overseeing the accounting and financial reporting processes of the Company and the audits of the financial statements of the Company. The Committee’s primary duties and responsibilities under this mandate are to serve as an independent and objective party to monitor:

1. | The quality and integrity of the Company’s financial statements and other financial information;
2. | The compliance of such statements and information with legal and regulatory requirements;
3. | The qualifications and independence of the Company’s independent external auditor (the “Auditor”); and
4. | The performance of the Company’s internal accounting procedures and Auditor.

II. STRUCTURE AND OPERATIONS

A. Composition

The Committee shall be comprised of at least three members, each of whom is a director of the Company who meets the independence, financial literacy and other requirements set out below.

B. Qualifications

Each member of the Committee must meet the independence requirements of all applicable Canadian and United States securities laws and stock exchange rules (collectively, the “AC Rules”) unless an exemption is available.

No member of the Committee may, other than in his or her capacity as a member of the Committee, the Board, or any other committee of the Board, accept directly or indirectly any consulting, advisory, or other “compensatory fee” (as such term is defined under applicable AC Rules) from, or be an “affiliated person”2 (as such term is defined under applicable AC Rules) of, the Company or any subsidiary of the Company unless an exemption or exception under applicable AC Rules is available.

A member of the Committee must not have participated in the preparation of the financial statements of the Company or any current subsidiary of the Company at any time during the past three years unless an exemption or exception under applicable AC Rules is available.

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Each member of the Committee must be able to read and understand fundamental financial statements, including the Company’s balance sheet, income statement, and cash flow statement.

At least one member of the Committee must be “financially sophisticated” in that he or she has past employment experience in finance or accounting, requisite professional certification in accounting, or any other comparable experience or background which results in the individual’s financial sophistication, including but not limited to being or having been a chief executive officer, chief financial officer, other senior officer with financial oversight responsibilities. An “audit committee financial expert” (as such term is defined under Item 407(d)(5)(ii) and (ii) of Regulation S-K) is presumed to qualify as financially sophisticated.

C. Appointment and Removal

In accordance with the Company’s Articles, the members of the Committee shall be appointed by the Board and shall serve until such member’s successor is duly elected and qualified or until such member’s earlier resignation or removal. Any member of the Committee may be removed, with or without cause, by a majority vote of the Board.

D. Chair

Unless the Board shall appoint a Chair, the members of the Committee shall designate a Chair by the majority vote of all of the members of the Committee. The Chair shall call, set the agendas for, and chair all meetings of, the Committee.

E. Sub-Committees

The Committee may form and delegate authority to subcommittees consisting of one or more members when appropriate, including the authority to grant pre-approvals of audit and permitted non-audit services, provided that a decision of such subcommittee to grant a pre-approval shall be presented to the full Committee at its next scheduled meeting.

F. Meetings

The Committee shall meet as often as is necessary to fulfil its duties respecting the Company’s quarterly and annual financial statements but not less than on a quarterly basis as provided in this Charter. The Committee should meet with the Auditor and management annually to review the Company’s financial statements in a manner consistent with, and to discharge its duties under, Section III of this Charter.

The Auditor shall be given reasonable notice of, and be entitled to attend and speak at, each meeting of the Committee concerning the Company’s annual financial statements and, if the Committee feels it is necessary or appropriate, at every other meeting. On request by the Auditor, the Chair shall call a meeting of the Committee to consider any matter that the Auditor believes should be brought to the attention of the Committee, the Board or the shareholders of the Company.

At each meeting, a quorum shall consist of a majority of the members comprising the Committee.

As part of its goal to foster open communication, the Committee may periodically meet separately with each of management and the Auditor to discuss any matters that the Committee believes would be appropriate to discuss privately.

The Committee may invite to its meetings any director, any manager of the Company, and any other person whom it deems appropriate to consult in order to carry out its responsibilities. The Committee may also exclude from its meetings any person it deems appropriate to exclude in order to carry out its responsibilities.

III. DUTIES

A. Introduction

The following functions shall be the common recurring duties of the Committee in carrying out its purposes outlined in Section I of this Charter. These duties should serve as a guide with the understanding that the Committee may fulfill additional duties and adopt additional policies and procedures as may be appropriate in light of changing business, legislative, regulatory or other conditions. The Committee shall also carry out any other responsibilities and duties delegated to it by the Board from time to time related to the purposes of the Committee outlined in Section I of this Charter.

The Committee, in discharging its oversight role, is empowered to study or investigate any matter of interest or concern which the Committee in its sole discretion deems appropriate for study or investigation by the Committee.

The Committee shall be given full access to the Company’s internal accounting staff, managers, other staff and Auditor as necessary to carry out these duties. While acting within the scope of its stated purpose, the Committee shall have all the authority of, but shall remain subject to, the Board. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Committee is directly responsible for the appointment, compensation, retention and oversight of the work of the Auditor and any other registered public accounting firm engaged for the purpose of preparing or issuing an audit or performing other audit, review or attest services for the Company.

The Company must provide appropriate funding, as determined by the Committee, for payment of (i) compensation to any registered public accounting firm engaged for the purpose of preparing or issuing an audit report or performing other audit, review or attest services for the Company, (ii) compensation to any independent counsel or other advisors employed by the Committee, and (iii) ordinary administrative expenses of the Committee that are necessary or appropriate in carrying out the Committee’s duties.

B. Powers and Responsibilities

The Committee will have the following responsibilities and, in order to perform and discharge these responsibilities, will be vested with the powers and authorities set forth below, namely, the Committee shall:

Independence of Auditor

1) . | Actively engage in a dialogue with the Auditor with respect to any disclosed relationships or services that may impact the objectivity and independence of the Auditor and, obtain a formal written statement from the Auditor setting forth all relationships between the Auditor and the Company.
2) . | Take, or recommend that the Board take, appropriate action to oversee the independence of the Auditor.
3) . | . Require the Auditor and any other registered public accounting firm engaged for the purpose of preparing or issuing an audit report or performing other audit, review or attest services for the Company to report directly to the Committee.
4) . | Review and approve the Company’s hiring policies regarding partners, employees and former partners and employees of the Auditor and former independent external auditor of the Company.

Performance & Completion by Auditor of its Work

5) . | Be directly responsible for the appointment, compensation, retention and oversight of the work of the Auditor and any other registered public accounting firm engaged (including resolution of disagreements between management and the Auditor or such public accounting firm regarding financial reporting) for the purpose of preparing or issuing an audit report or performing other audit, review or attest services for the Company.
6) . | Review annually the performance of the Auditor, and either appoint a new Auditor or recommend to shareholders that the existing Auditor be re-elected.
7) . | Pre-approve all auditing services and permitted non-audit services (including the fees and terms thereof) to be performed for the Company by the Auditor; provided, however, that pre-approval of services other than audit, review or attest services is not required if such services:

| (a) | constitute, in the aggregate, no more than 5% of the total amount of revenues paid by the Company to the Auditor during the fiscal year in which the services are provided;

| (b) | were not recognized by the Company at the time of the engagement to be non-audit services; and
| (c) | are promptly brought to the attention of the Committee and approved prior to the completion of the audit by the Committee or by one or more members of the Committee to whom authority to grant such approvals has been delegated by the Committee.

Preparation of Financial Statements

8) . | Discuss with management and the Auditor significant financial reporting issues and judgments made in connection with the preparation of the Company’s financial statements, including any significant changes in the Company’s selection or application of accounting principles, any major issues as to the adequacy of the Company’s internal controls and any special steps adopted in light of material control deficiencies.
9) . | Discuss with management and the Auditor any correspondence with regulators or governmental agencies and any employee complaints or published reports which raise material issues regarding the Company’s financial statements or accounting policies.
10) . | Discuss with management and the Auditor the effect of regulatory and accounting initiatives as well as off-balance sheet structures on the Company’s financial statements.
11) . | Discuss with management the Company’s major financial risk exposures and the steps management has taken to monitor and control such exposures, including the Company’s risk assessment and risk management policies.
12) . | Discuss with the Auditor the matters required to be discussed relating to the conduct of any audit, in particular:

| a) | The adoption of, or changes to, the Company’s significant auditing and accounting principles and practices as suggested by the Auditor or management.
| b) | Any difficulties encountered in the course of the audit work, including any restrictions on the scope of activities or access to requested information, and any significant disagreements with management.

Public Disclosure by the Company

13) . | Review the Company’s annual and quarterly financial statements, management discussion and analysis (MD&A) and press releases respecting earnings before the Board approves and the Company publicly discloses this information.
14) . | Review the Company’s financial reporting procedures and internal controls to be satisfied that adequate procedures are in place for the review of the Company’s public disclosure of financial information extracted or derived from its financial statements, other than disclosure described in the previous paragraph, and periodically assessing the adequacy of those procedures.
15) . | Review any disclosures made to the Committee by the Company’s Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer during their certification process of the Company’s financial statements and public disclosure about any significant deficiencies in the design or operation of internal controls or material weaknesses therein and any fraud involving management or other employees who have a significant role in the Company’s internal controls.

Related Party Transactions

16) . | Review and approve related party transactions if required under applicable AC Rules.

Manner of Carrying Out its Mandate

17) . | Consult, to the extent it deems necessary or appropriate, with the Auditor but without the presence of management, about the quality of the Company’s accounting principles, internal controls and the completeness and accuracy of the Company’s financial statements.
18) . | Request any officer or employee of the Company or the Company’s outside counsel or Auditor to attend a meeting of the Committee or to meet with any members of, or consultants to, the Committee.

19) . | Have the authority, if it deems it necessary or appropriate, to engage independent legal counsel, and accounting or other advisers to advise the Committee.
20) . | Meet separately, if it deems it necessary or appropriate, with management and the Auditor.
21) . | Make periodic reports to the Board as is necessary or required.
22) . | Review and reassess the adequacy of this Charter annually and recommend any proposed changes to the Board for approval.
23) . | Annually review the Committee’s own performance.
24) . | Provide an open avenue of communication between the Auditor and the Board.
25) . | Not delegate these responsibilities other than to one or more independent members of the Committee the authority to pre-approve, which the Committee must ratify at its next meeting, audit and permitted non-audit services to be provided by the Auditor.

C. Whistle-Blower Policy

The Committee shall establish and annually review the procedures for (i) the receipt, retention and treatment of complaints received by the Company regarding accounting, internal accounting controls, or auditing matters, and (ii) the confidential, anonymous submission by employees of the Company of concerns regarding questionable accounting or auditing matters.

D. Limitation of Audit Committee’s Role

While the Committee has the responsibilities and powers set forth in this Charter, it is not the duty of the Committee to plan or conduct audits or to determine that the Company’s financial statements and disclosures are complete and accurate and are in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles and applicable rules and regulations. These are the responsibilities of management and the Auditor.

This Charter, as amended, was approved by the Board of Directors on March 27, 2017.