ICAI council wants firms involved in ‘scams' booked

MANGALORE: CA G.Ramaswamy, Vice president, Institute of Chartered Accountants of India speaking at the inaugural function of National Conference on Direct taxes and Allied Laws in Mangalore on Friday 20th August 2010.. Photo:R.Eswarraj

The Central Council of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) has decided to recommend to the Union Government to amend the relevant laws for initiating action against firms involved in “violations” (scams), G. Ramaswamy, vice-president of the institute, said here on Friday.

The decision was taken at a meeting on Thursday at Bangalore, he said.

Speaking at the inauguration of a two-day national conference on direct taxes and allied laws, he said that the council had also decided to subject firms to disciplinary action for violation of codes. Under the existing legal provisions, Government can take disciplinary action only against individuals and not firms.

The conference has been organised by the Mangalore branch of Southern India Regional Council (SIRC) of the ICAI. International Financial Reporting Standards (formerly international accounting standards) will come into effect in the country by next April. The Ministry of Corporate Affairs has constituted a core group for implementing the IFRS, with the ICAI as the nodal agency. The ICAI has so far cleared 37 accounting standards in converged form. They will have to be cleared by the National Advisory Committee on Accounting Standards for the Government to issue a notification.

Corporate companies with a net worth of more than Rs. 1,000 crore will have to comply with the IFRS in the first stage. Companies with net worth of more than Rs. 500 crore and below Rs. 1,000 crore will have to comply with the new accounting standards in the second phase. The ICAI will conduct workshops to create awareness on the IFRS throughout the country, he said.

Special e-learning and certificate courses are available for chartered accountants to learn more about the IFRS, he said. Mr. Ramaswamy said that the Chartered Accountants (Amendment) Bill, 2010 is pending approval. Once it becomes an Act, it will help many chartered accountants form alliances with professionals such as value assessors, advocates and company secretaries.

K. Raghu, member, central council, ICAI, said that the institute was expanding its infrastructure in the State.

Babu Abraham K., chairman, SIRC; S. Srinivas Kamath, chairman, Mangalore branch; and Murali Mohan, secretary of the branch, spoke.