The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : “Global recognition for Indian chartered accountants”

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Monday, Jun 22, 2009
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

“Global recognition for Indian chartered accountants”

Special Correspondent

ICAI to sign Mutual Recognition Agreement with Australian, Canadian accounting bodies

— Photo: S.S. Kumar

PROUD MOMENT: A.R. Lakshmanan, Chairman, Law Commission (second from right), presenting a certificate to C. Ramesh Babu, a rank-holder, at a convocation in Chennai on Sunday. (From left) Uttam Prakash Agarwal, ICAI president, V.C. James, vice-chairman of Board of Studies, and V. Murali, chairman of CPE Committee of ICAI, are in the picture.

CHENNAI: Chartered accountants from India will soon be able to practise in Australia and Canada.

The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) will sign a Mutual Recognition Agreement (MRA) with the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia and Certified General Accountants of Canada on July 3, according to its president Uttam Prakash Agarwal.

Taking part in the ICAI-Southern Region Convocation-2009 function here on Sunday, he said they had recently signed an MRA with accounting bodies in England & Wales and Australia.

The new MRAs, to be signed in Agra at an international conference organised by the Institute, also enable accountants to seek reciprocal membership in the respective accounting bodies.

Currently, the ICAI is teaching English speaking and accounting skills to 30-40 persons from Oman, Bahrain and Dubai. Shortly, training institutes will be set up in these countries.

“Indian chartered accountants have emerged complete business solution providers and are recognised globally. The global recessionary trend has little impact on recruitment drive. This year around 500 to 600 chartered accountants were recruited through campus interviews and their average annual salary is Rs.6.91 lakh against Rs.5.75 lakh offered last year,” Mr. Agarwal said.

On the Satyam episode, he said several agencies had conducted investigations so far, but no one had found fault with Indian Accounting and Auditing standards. “It is a clear case of failure of corporate governance. It is an aberration of the system and exceptions are there everywhere,” he added.

In his convocation address, Law Commission chairman A.R. Lakshmanan said the global recession had its impact in India on various segments of trade. But there was no need to panic as the Centre was taking steps to reduce the impact.

He urged the new entrants to play a vital role in discharging their functions in an objective, fair and unbiased manner.

“Put your core competence to the best use; do something pro-active for the development of the nation; offer value-added services; adapt yourselves to the changing needs of an organisation; create awareness among investors through proper disclosures and live up to the expectations of the society,” he said.

In all, 119 students from Chennai received the convocation credentials. Justice Mr. Lakshmanan distributed rank certificates.

The convocation for students from Karnataka and Tamil Nadu will be held in Bangalore next week and for those in Andhra Pradesh it will be held in Hyderabad on July 2.

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