ICAI | Online Panel of Experts for addressing Bank Branch Audit related queries

Dear Members,

The bank audit season is around the corner. Various significant announcements have been made by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), which requires the attention of Statutory Branch Auditors (SBAs), including revised guidelines regarding Prudential Norms on income recognition, asset classification and provisioning pertaining to advances dated October 01, 2021 and clarifications thereon dated November 12, 2021 and dated February 15, 2022, master directions of RBI on Classification, Valuation and Operation of Investment Portfolio; Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) and Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR); Transfer of Loan Exposures; and Presentation & disclosures of financial statements of banks. The Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (AASB) of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) has issued 2022 edition of Guidance Note on Audit of Banks to guide the members w.r.t. the aforementioned developments. The Guidance Note has also been updated in light of recent pronouncements of ICAI having bearing on bank audits and amendments/changes in applicable laws or regulations.

Given the fact that the banking industry is typical in terms of its geographical and customer spread, the volume and varied nature of products and services offered, coupled with the strict constraints for completing the audits, the members, many a times, face a lot of issues/ queries while conducting Bank Branch Audits. These could include determination of NPA status, implications of complicated data found in a branch audit, unavailability of any relevant RBI circular, implications of the requirements of RBI circular, nature and adequacy of documentation, possible wordings of the audit report on some important matters in bank branch audit, reporting on Long Form Audit Reports, Ghosh and Jilani Committee recommendations, special purpose reports and certificates, etc.

With a view to support our members for fast resolution of such queries, the Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (AASB) is pleased to announce an Online Panel of Experts for addressing Bank Branch Audit related queries from 1^st April, 2022 till 15^th April, 2022. The queries are to be sent at email address: bankauditfaq@icai.in.

Panel Convenors 

(Dr.) Sanjeev Kumar Singhal, Chairman, AASB, ICAI and CA. Vishal Doshi, Vice Chairman, AASB, ICAI.

Members are specifically informed that the views expressed by the experts would be their personal views and not necessarily the views of the Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (AASB) or the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI). AASB, ICAI or the members of the Panel, do not accept any responsibility for actions taken by the querists based on such advice. Further, these views are not to be used as evidence in any non judicial/ quasi judicial/ judicial proceeding before any authority.

To enable us to serve you better, you are also advised to:

• Be brief but provide full information and facts.
• Not to mention the name of the Bank or Branch or the name of the Borrower or depositor to avoid problem of violation of client confidentiality requirements under the ICAI Code of Ethics.
• Avoid rejoinders.
• Not to send the same query twice.
• Draft the report on your own.
• Use own judgment.

Vice Chairman
Auditing and Assurance Standards Board

Chairman                           
Auditing and Assurance Standards Board