The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has barred Price Waterhouse (PW) from auditing any listed company in India for two years for its alleged role in the Satyam scam.
The regulator has also directed the firm to disgorge ₹13.09 crore along with 12% interest per annum since January 2009.
“Entities/firms practicing 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 an 108-page order released late on Wednesday.
In 2010, 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.
Disappointed, says PW
“We are disappointed with the findings of the SEBI investigations and the adjudication order. The SEBI order relates to a fraud that took place nearly a decade ago in which we played no part and had no knowledge of,” said a statement issued by PW on Wednesday.
“As we have said since 2009, there has been no intentional wrongdoing by PW firms in the unprecedented management perpetrated fraud at Satyam, nor have we seen any material evidence to the contrary. We believe that the order is also not in line with the directions of the Hon’ble Bombay High Court order of 2010 and so we are confident of getting a stay before this order becomes effective,” it said.
