My dear Professional Colleagues, The financial downturn is turning out to be more severe than predicted and it is proving much more difficult to resolve this crisis than initially thought. The slowdown has hurt the country’s third quarter GDP growth, which expanded by 5.3% as compared to 7.6% in the previous quarter. As a cumulative effect, the actual GDP growth for 2008-09 will be less than 7%. The deceleration in growth rate in the third quarter of 2008-09 is largely due to the global economic crisis, which has cut demand and affected exports. Though effective fiscal and monetary measures have helped take the sting out of the recession in India, in the West, aggressive stimulus packages have failed to bring in the desired results till now. All this indicates towards a worrying future trend of increased protectionism in the globe. Already, the amended H1-B visa policy of the American administration and the call for ‘Buy only American’ as a criterion of availing US government aid, point in that direction. However, in a bid to boost their respective economies, most nations are missing the woods for the trees. While this current crisis spread like a wild fire on account of the high level of financial and economic integration among all countries, trying to put up high walls of tariff and non-tariff restrictions as desperate short term steps will only aggravate the crisis everywhere. In fact, more than any other time, it is now that coordinated efforts by all economies are required both to strengthen the existing financial architecture (to prevent future crises) and also to resuscitate the drowning economies. The central issue today is that of good governance and how it will affect the country’s economic prospects. The governance structure has to expand its framework to include a system that ensures optimal utilization of resources for the benefit of shareholders while meeting societal expectations. I am glad to inform you that the Reserve Bank of India has issued a circular wherein they have included Cost Accountants for certification in compliance of various statutory prescripttions that are in vogue in respect of “Lending under Consortium Arrangement/Multiple Banking Arrangements”. As informed earlier, the National Institute of Securities Markets (Established by Securities and Exchange Board of India) is organizing programmes at various cities of the country in connection with the half-yearly internal audit of stock brokers. The details are available on our website and I request members to attend these programmes to sharpen their knowledge and enable them to render their services in this area more effectively. During February, a number of meetings and conferences were organized by different Regional Councils and Chapters. The Vijayawada Chapter organized a students’ meet on 6
th February 2009 which wasth February 2009 at Kolkata. The theme of the Conference is “Brandth February 2009. The Western India Regional Council and Surat-South Gujarat Chapterth February 2009 on “Competencies forst February 2009 at a function organized by the
attended by more than 500 students. The Eastern India Regional Council organized “EIRC Regional
Students’ Conference – 2009” on 8
CMA – A Leap Forward”. The newly constituted Navi-Mumbai Chapter organized a seminar on Indirect
Taxes on 9
organized WIRC Regional Students’ Conference at Surat on 15
Management Accountants”. Shri V. Vaithilingam, Hon’ble Chief Minister of Pondicherry launched the
CAT Course of the Institute at Pondicherry on 21
Pondicherry Chapter. All the functions were very well attended and I congratulate the respective Chapters
and Regional Councils for successful organization of the seminars and conferences.th February 2009 where the ICWAIth March 2009.st Edition of “IFRS Summit 2009” on 18th March 2009. This national initiative is
The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) organized “Banking &
Financial Services Industry (BFSI) Summit 2009” at Mumbai on 9
was a co-sponsor. The Summit was attended by large number of senior level officers from the banking
and financial services sector. On behalf of the Institute Shri A. N. Raman, Central Council Member made
a presentation on “Corporate Risk Management through Enterprise Governance” which was highly
acclaimed by the participants.
The Institute is also participating as a speaker on “Corporate Governance and Social Responsibility” at
the “Roundtable on Corporate Governance and Social Responsibility” being organized jointly by Consumer
Voice, National Consumer Helpline (NCH) and Business and Community Foundation (BCF) at New
Delhi on 13
CII is organizing the 1
also being supported by the Institute as a knowledge partner alsong with NSE and ICSI. The Institute is
also going to make a presentation at the Summit.
The work of the Cost Accounting Standards Board is going ahead in full steam. The members of the
Board have been contributing immensely towards development of the standards and publishing these as
early as possible. I would like to inform you that the Council has decided to that our members in practice
should ensure that the cost accounting standards are adhere to while certifying any cost or pricing data.
Notification in this respect will be issued soon.
As a part of our professional development, we have been in close touch with the SEBI, Reserve Bank of
India and other regulators. I take this opportunity of informing you that the Central Bureau of Investigation
(CBI) requested for the assistance of the ICWAI to be a part of the investigating team probing the
Satyam Affair. I am glad to inform you that ICWAI has joined the probe team of CBI and will extend all
its help and support to make the investigation successful.
This month, readers will be read on Corporate Governance, which has now become all the more important
in both Indian and global contexts.
With warm regards
Yours sincerely,
Kunal Banerjee
President
CAclubindia
