ICAI will object even if KPMG's audit arm works for Satyam

The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI), which regulates the profession of chartered accountants in the country, today said it would raise objections even if KPMG’s Indian audit arm - BSR and Associates - was engaged to do audit work by the scam-hit Satyam Computer Services Ltd. KPMG, one of the big four audit firms in the world, was asked by the government-appointed board of Satyam to restate the accounts after B Ramalinga Raju, the company’s founder, admitted to inflating the profits. Top officials of the institute said BSR and Associates cannot undertake audit work using the name of KPMG as the foreign firm is not registered with ICAI. ICAI had written a letter to the Satyam board communicating its stand. “We have written to the Satyam board that KPMG cannot be appointed as an auditor for Satyam as it is not our member,” ICAI President Ved Jain told the media here. He added that the Satyam board now had six members, one of them being a chartered accountant. They would consider the issue at their meeting tomorrow, he added. Even if KPMG was doing a ‘re-statement’ of financial accounts, Jain said, this was an assurance service, which involved accounting and auditing. Reacting to the ICAI statement, a KPMG spokesperson said, “We are working with the new Satyam board. The scope of work and terms of its reference are being discussed... It is our understanding that the scope of work to be finalised is not reserved for chartered accountants registered with ICAI. – www.business-standard.com