Professional rivalry mars CAs’ meet

 

HYDERABAD: In the wake of the Satyam scam theChartered Accountants appears to have split into two hostile camps - The ‘Big 4’ vs The Rest. The Big 4 - PricewaterhouseCoopers, KPMG, Ernst & Young and Deloitte - are seen as overbearing and arrogant in their demeanour, they claim to adhere to higher standards of auditing and ethics than other CAs.

 

The seminar on corporate governance, organised by the Southern Regional Centre of the Institution of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) on Saturday in Hyderabad, witnessed acrimonious scenes between the employees of Big 4 and other CAs.

 

After the seminar some CAs wanted to move a resolution against the new ICAI president ‘questioning his character’.

 

Four employees of the Big 4, attending the seminar, reacted strongly against the move. They argued with the chair on the comments made by the speaker. However, they were shouted down by other CAs.

 

The employees of Big 4 objected to S Gurumurthy’s comments on the ownership structure and registration of the big four firms: “Their ownership structure is unclear, for all we know it could be Osama.” A ‘Big 4’ employee, who refused to be identified, said: “I really believe that I am ethical and I don’t think anyone in a seminar should call me a janitor or compare me to Osama or Veerappan.” Twenty employees of Big 4 had registered for the seminar, but only four turned up.

 

“The Satyam scam has given other CAs an opportunity to bash us, I am in this firm because of my qualifications, so why are they calling us names now,” queried another Big 4 employee.

 

When asked what she had to say about suspended Pricewaterhouse auditor Gopalakrishnan being nominated to 11 standing committees of ICAI she said: “When the members contest ICAI elections they do so on an individual basis and not as representatives of the firm.” The Big 4 employees said dismissed the charges levelled by the local CAs as professional jealousy.

 

“They are frustrated because they are losing talent, money and clients to us, it’s just envy,” said one of them.

 

“All these people who accuse us of loose ethics send their children to the Big 4 firms to do their articles,” said the fourth Big 4 employee.