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Tamil Nadu

Book on corporate disclosures released

Special Correspondent

— Photo: S.R. Raghunathan

ICICI Bank chairman N. Vaghul (centre) hands over the first copy of the book ‘Corporate Disclosures’ to N. Chandrasekaran, vice-president, TAKE Solutions, in Chennai on Thursday. Author of the book Shankar Jaganathan is in the picture.

CHENNAI: ICICI Bank chairman N. Vaghul on Thursday underlined the need for reading up on historical incidents as they had immense value and pointed to the future.

Releasing a book, ‘Corporate Disclosures – The Origin of Financial and Business Reporting 1553-2007 AD,’ he said: “I used to think that I need not spend time on historical data, but concentrate on the present. But, after reading 13 volumes of Toynbee’s ‘A study of History,’ my views changed. It predicted the dawn of East Pakistan, and it happened in 1971.”

Mr. Vaghul, who has written a foreword for the book authored by chartered accountant Shankar Jaganathan, said: “Double entry bookkeeping originated in India and not Venice as it is made out. About 2,300 years ago, Arthasasthra spoke about the basis for providing compensation. The 272-year-old East India Company folded up, since it failed to adhere to corporate governance. There are several lessons one can learn by going through the anecdotes provided in this book.”

Mr. Jaganathan said he had chosen 1553 as the base year, since it gave birth to the first joint stock company in London. The book explains why companies were formed and what made them share information in over 40 episodes. It also captures the needs, circumstances and emotions across the continents and traces the first report.

He said audit was introduced in 1879 to provide information to shareholders, following the collapse of the City of Glasgow Bank.

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