High Powered Committee Set up by The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India
The Government has informed the Parliament that the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) in terms of Section 17(2) of the Chartered Accountants Act, 1949 constituted a fact finding Committee called High Powered Committee to look into the entire gamut of financial reporting, accounting, auditing aspects with regard to Satyam fiasco and suggest changes wherever required for the purpose of making appropriate recommendations to Government, SEBI and other regulators. Giving this information in reply to a question in the Lok Sabha, the Minsiter for Corporate Affairs, Shri Salman Khurshid told the House that the fact finding process is on.
Shri Khurshid also informed that ICAI has sought following details from around 150 firms of Chartered Accountants registered with it on the following:
i. Agreement/contract with the multinational entity.
ii. Terms and conditions for usage of name of multinational entity.
iii. Arrangement for sharing of fees/profit with other Indian CA firms with similar/identical name and with the multinational entity.
iv. Arrangement for sharing of human resources and infrastructure with other Indian CA firms with similar/identical name and with the multinational entity.
v. Details of remittances made to and received from the multinational entity.
vi. Copy of Partnership deed of the CA firms registered with ICAI with similar/identical name, as in vogue in the last five years.
vii. Income-tax assessment orders for the last 3 years in respect of the CA firms registered with ICAI with similar/identical name. If assessment orders have not been received, then to submit computation of income and copies of returns.
viii. Copies of letterheads and visiting cards generally used.
At present, the aforementioned details are not available on the database of the ICAI, since these have not been called for in the past. These details have now been called for as the Committee has felt that the same would enable it to reach an appropriate conclusion.