ANIL AMBANI SUPPORTS SEBI's PEER REVIEW PLANS

R-ADAG chairman Anil Ambani has supported SEBI’s move to subject the accounting standards of all Nifty and Sens*x companies to a peer review in the wake of the Satyam financial scandal. In a letter to SEBI chairman C B Bhave, Mr Ambani said the peer review of audit would give confidence to global investors and significantly add to establishing the quality of financial reporting in the country. At the same time, he maintained that India’s corporate governance standards were equal to the best in the world. The market regulator in a statement on Friday said working papers of the auditors relating to financial statements of the Nifty and Sens*x companies would be reviewed by peers, chosen from a nominated panel of auditors. The exercise would be taken up for the current third quarter results as well as for the audited results for FY 2007-2008. “We are dismayed with recent events, like many other corporates,’’ wrote Mr Ambani in a reference to the Satyam scandal where the company’s founder Ramalinga Raju has confessed to inflating the profits of the company in the financial statements of the company. PWC, Satyam’s auditor, is being investigated for its role, if any, in the scandal. Mr Ambani has expressed the hope that SEBI would select peer reviewers on merit and would deal with issues relating to confidentiality of information and any conflict of interest. He added that all R-ADAG group companies were audited by at least 2 statutory auditors with all the auditors figuring in the world’s top ten auditing firms. In addition to the Nifty and Sens*x companies, SEBI will also chose some other companies, selected at random, for the peer review. The peer review has been suggested by the SEBI Committee on Disclosures and Accounting Standards (SCODA) to boost investor confidence in the financial disclosures made by listed entities. – www.economictimes.indiatimes.com