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  • TSX-V: LRA

Audit Committee Charter

MANDATE

The Audit Committee (the "Committee") of the Board of Directors of Lara Exploration Ltd. (the "Company") shall assist the Board in fulfilling its financial oversight responsibilities. The Committee's primary duties and responsibilities under this mandate are to serve as an independent and objective party to monitor:

  • The quality and integrity of the Company's financial statements and other financial information;
  • The compliance of such statements and information with legal and regulatory requirements;
  • The qualifications and independence of the Company's independent external auditor (the "Auditor"); and
  • The performance of the Company's internal accounting procedures and Auditor.

STRUCTURE AND OPERATIONS

  1. Composition

    The Committee shall be comprised of three or more independent members.

  2. Qualifications

    Each member of the Committee must be a member of the Board.

    A majority of the members of the Committee shall not be officers or employees of the Company or of an affiliate of the Company.

    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.

  3. Appointment and Removal
    In accordance with the Articles of the Company, 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.
  4. Chair
    Unless the Board shall select 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.
  5. 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.
  6. Meetings The Committee shall meet at least once in each fiscal year, or more frequently as circumstances dictate. 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 members that are not officers or employees of the Company or of an affiliate of the Company.

    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. In addition, the Committee should meet with the Auditor and management annually to review the Company's financial statements in a manner consistent with Section III of this Charter.

    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.

DUTIES

  1. 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.

  2. 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
    • Review and discuss with the Auditor any disclosed relationships or services that may impact the objectivity and independence of the Auditor and, if necessary, obtain a formal written statement from the Auditor setting forth all relationships between the Auditor and the Company, consistent with Independence Standards Board Standard 1.
    • Take, or recommend that the Board take, appropriate action to oversee the independence of the Auditor.
    • Require the Auditor to report directly to the Committee.
    • 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
    • Be directly responsible for the oversight of the work by the Auditor (including resolution of disagreements between management and the Auditor regarding financial reporting) for the purpose of preparing or issuing an audit report or related work.
    • Review annually the performance of the Auditor and recommend the appointment by the Board of a new, or re-election by the Company’s shareholders of the existing, Auditor.
    • 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 unless such non-audit services:

      g1. which are not pre-approved, are reasonably expected not to constitute, in the aggregate, more than 5% of the total amount of revenues paid by the Company to the Auditor during the fiscal year in which the non-audit services are provided;

      g2. were not recognized by the Company at the time of the engagement to be non-audit services; and

      g3. are promptly brought to the attention of the Committee by Management and approved prior to the completion of the audit by the Committee or by one or more members of the Committee who are members of the Board to whom authority to grant such approvals has been delegated by the Committee.

      Internal Financial Controls & Operations of the Company
    • Establish procedures for:

      h1. the receipt, retention and treatment of complaints received by the Company regarding accounting, internal accounting controls, or auditing matters; and

      h3. the confidential, anonymous submission by employees of the Company of concerns regarding questionable accounting or auditing matters.

      Preparation of Financial Statements
    • 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.
    • 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.
    • 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.
    • 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.
    • Discuss with the Auditor the matters required to be discussed relating to the conduct of any audit, in particular:

      m1. The adoption of, or changes to, the Company’s significant auditing and accounting principles and practices as suggested by the Auditor or management.

      m2. 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
    • Review the Company’s annual and quarterly financial statements, management discussion and analysis (MD&A), annual information form, and management information circular before the Board approves and the Company publicly discloses this information.
    • 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.
    • 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 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.

      Manner of Carrying Out its Mandate
    • 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.
    • 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.
    • Have the authority, to the extent it deems necessary or appropriate, to retain independent legal, accounting or other consultants to advise the Committee advisors.
    • Meet, to the extent it deems necessary or appropriate, with management and the Auditor in separate executive sessions at least quarterly.
    • Have the authority, to the extent it deems necessary or appropriate, to retain independent legal, accounting or other consultants to advise the Committee advisors.
    • Make regular reports to the Board.
    • Review and reassess the adequacy of this Charter annually and recommend any proposed changes to the Board for approval.
    • Annually review the Committee’s own performance.
    • Provide an open avenue of communication among the Auditor and the Board.
    • 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, non-audit services to be provided by the Auditor.
  3. Whistleblower Policy
    The Committee shall establish and then annually review the procedure for the establishment of confidential, anonymous submission by employees of the Company and to all other corporations, trusts, partnerships or other entities which may be established by the Company of any concerns which applicable individuals may have regarding questionable accounting or auditing matters of the Company. The Whistleblower Policy shall be attached as an addendum to this Charter.
  4. 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.

Approved by the Board of Directors: April 28, 2008

Corporate