Auditors' red flag in time could have averted many financial misdoings: NFRA chief

31st December,2022

Many financial misdoings could have been detected and averted at an early stage if the auditors concerned had pointed out such instances to stakeholders in time, a top NFRA official has said. The National Financial Reporting Authority (NFRA) was set up in October 2018 and has more than 8,000 listed and other companies under its purview.

"Not only in hindsight but otherwise also, I believe that had many of the violations that we observe in our proceedings been pointed out by the auditors to the shareholders and other stakeholders in time, many of the financial misdoings could have been detected and averted at an early stage," NFRA Chairperson Ajay Bhushan Prasad Pandey told PTI in an interview.

Audits

KMPG UK appoints new head of law

31st DECEMBER, 2022

Professional services firm, KPMG UK, has appointed Stuart Bedford as its new UK Head of Law. Bedford is set to join the firm from Linklaters where, in his position as corporate partner, he advised on a broad range of deals across Europe, Asia and Africa, including mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures and fund structures.

Bedford also spent two years as in-house counsel with BAE Systems. He moved to become a senior consultant for the technology and outsourcing consultancy, Grosvenor, and he also spent 18 months as a partner of a private equity firm focused on high growth companies, Leapfrog Investments. He will succeed Nick Roome, who has led KPMG’s UK law practice since 2015 and has now been promoted to take on a global focused role, concentrating on growing KPMG’s global legal solutions. Bedford and Roome will take up their new roles from April 2023.

KPMG’s UK CEO, Jon Holt, commenting on the appointment said: “We know there is a huge opportunity in this space to help clients succeed, and these leadership appointments position us well to accelerate that growth, both in the UK and globally.” Speaking on his new role, Stuart Bedford said: “I am excited to be taking on this new challenge and aim to build on the impressive strides KPMG Law has made in the past few years. We have a huge opportunity to build on the great work we are already doing at a time of accelerated change within the legal sector. I am very much looking forward to working with the team as we help our clients and the firm to achieve their ambitions.”

General

Mukesh Ambani outlines goals for GeNext in $207 billion empire

31st December,2022

Billionaire Mukesh Ambani outlined his ambitions for various businesses under his flagship Reliance Industries that are now helmed by his three children, in a clear sign that leadership transition was firmly underway at India’s largest company by market value.

Under elder son Akash Ambani’s chairmanship, Reliance Jio Infocomm should aim to provide “unique digital products and solutions” after emerging as India’s largest wireless service operator that rolled out world’s fastest 5G network, the 65-year-old Ambani said. He was speaking at an internal Reliance event, according to the copy of a speech shared by the company on Thursday.

Reliance’s retail business run by Akash’s twin, Isha, has “grown rapidly” with the widest and deepest reach in India, he said. The retailer should now aim to expand further, providing more jobs and revenues for various partners along its supply chain, according to Ambani.

General

Tata Motors to conclude deal to buy Ford India’s Sanand plant by January 10

31st December,2022
Tata Motors shall conclude the buyout of Ford India’s Sanand plant by January 10, 2023, the company said in a notification to the exchanges on Friday. The Tata Group flagship together with its Tata Passenger Electric Mobility (TPEM) had executed the so-called unit transfer agreement with Ford India Pvt Ltd (FIPL) on August 7, 2022 for acquisition of the latter’s manufacturing plant situated at Sanand, Gujarat.

This includes entire land and buildings, vehicle manufacturing plant along with machinery and equipment and transfer of all eligible employees of Ford’s vehicle manufacturing operations at Sanand, for a total consideration, exclusive of taxes, of Rs725.7 crore. As part of the transaction, all eligible employees of FIPL’s vehicle manufacturing plant have been offered employment with TPEML on terms, conditions and benefits of service similar to those that are currently availed by them, Tata Motors said in the statement.

General

US SEC heightening scrutiny of auditors' crypto work : report

29TH DECEMBER,2022

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is heightening the scrutiny of the work audit firms do for cryptocurrency companies, a senior official of the regulator told the Wall Street Journal. "We're warning investors to be very wary of some of the claims that are being made by crypto companies," said Paul Munter, SEC's acting chief accountant in an interview with the journal.
The SEC did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on the report. The development comes as the implosion of FTX has rippled across the industry, hobbling liquidity at firms with exposure to what was once one of the world's biggest crypto exchanges, and has prompted investigations by regulators in several countries. Last month, FTX filed for US bankruptcy protection and its founder Sam Bankman-Fried resigned as chief executive, after rival exchange Binance walked away from a proposed acquisition.

Audits

Use third party validation to check fraud: Sebi chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch to auditors

19th December,2022

Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch nudged auditors to use technology-driven third-party validation in the auditing process in order to check fraud. "Sebi's thrust on third-party validation is driven by the commitment to ensure a true and fair picture of whatever is presented in the markets," Buch said while addressing auditors at an event organised by the Indian Audit and Accounts Department.

Buch said there are more than 20 websites in the country which auditors can use to validate the claim of the auditee.
While technology is being used as a tool by fraudsters, we can use the same technology to evade fraud. Auditors can use tools like GSTN portal, bank websites etc. for doing a third-party validation," she said

Audits

SC extends medical bail of ex-statutory auditor of Amrapali Group

19th December,2022

The Supreme Court  extended the medical bail of the former statutory auditor of the Amrapali Group of Companies, once a real estate giant but now embroiled in a string of court battles over undelivered housing projects. A bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Abhay S Oka took on record the report of petitioner Anil Mittal submitted by the medical board constituted by the AIIMS.

"Counsel for the petitioner states that the counsel who has to address submissions is on his legs in a part-heard matter and ASG appearing on the opposite side was informed though the adjournment letter is not before us

Audits

NFRA BEGINS INSPECTIONS OF FIVE AUDIT FIRMS

18th December,2022

The National Financial Reporting Authority (NFRA), the country’s sole independent audit regulator, has started inspections of five audit firms. NFRA Chairman Ajay Bhushan Pandey said the inspections will take three weeks to complete and a draft report is expected before financial year end.

In November, NFRA had stated in its guidelines that inspections are intended to identify areas and opportunities for improvement in the audit firm’s system of quality control. Inspections will consist of firm-wide review of audit quality (SQC 1) and individual file reviews on test-check basis to evaluate the level of compliance with applicable auditing standards and quality control policy and processes. 

Audits