Price Waterhouse has filed an appeal at the Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) challenging the order by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) that barred it from auditing listed entities for two years for its alleged role in the Satyam Computer Services matter.
The case will come up for hearing at the tribunal on Friday.
On January 10, the capital market regulator issued a 108-page order wherein it barred Price Waterhouse and its affiliate audit firms from dealing with any listed entity for a period of two years. It further directed the firm and two of its former partners – S. Gopalakrishnan and Srinivas Talluri - to disgorge ₹13.09 crore along with 12% interest per annum since January 2009.
“Entities/firms practising as Chartered Accountants in India under the brand and banner of PW [Price Waterhouse], shall not directly or indirectly issue any certificate of audit of listed companies, compliance of obligations of listed companies and intermediaries registered with SEBI... for a period of two years,” stated SEBI in its order.
In February 2009, SEBI issued a show-cause notice to Price Waterhouse, among many other entities, after it emerged that the accounts of Satyam were falsified and inflated.
This followed a letter written in January 2009 by the then chairman of Satyam, B. Ramalinga Raju, in which he said that the balance sheet of the company included inflated and non-existent cash and bank balances.
