The document outlines the empanelment process of Chartered Accountant firms as Concurrent Auditors for bank branches, CPCs, and special units. It specifies eligibility criteria including RBI grading, prior audit experience, availability of trained staff, and absence of conflicts of interest. Firms must submit complete applications both online and offline, with no scope for modification after submission. The selection involves scrutiny by committees based on experience, staffing, and suitability, with final approval resting with the Bank. The scope of concurrent audit is extensive, covering cash transactions, loans, deposits, treasury, forex, compliance, and operational controls. The engagement is contractual for up to three years, subject to performance review. Remuneration varies by branch type and audit category, with additional payments for cluster audits. Strict confidentiality, reporting standards, and compliance obligations are mandated, along with penalty and termination provisions for non-performance or misconduct. The Bank retains discretion in allocation, evaluation, and continuation of assignments.
SOP- CA FIRMS
STATE BANK OF INDIA
INTERNAL AUDIT DEPARTMENT, HYDERABAD
EMPANELMENT OF CHARTERED ACCOUNTANT FIRMS
AS CONCURRENT AUDITORS
1. SELECTION AS CONCURRENT AUDITORS:
Applications are invited from eligible Chartered Accountant Firms for empanelment as Concurrent Auditors in the Bank branches / CPCs / special outfits.
2. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA:
Those firms which satisfy the following are eligible to apply:
a) Grade I, II III & W firms as per RBI Grade as on the date of application.
b) CA Firms having at least one year of experience of Concurrent Audit in any Commercial Bank. Firms with below 1 year experience will not be eligible to apply.
c) CA Firms which have sufficient number of trained representatives of firm articled Clerk
trained by ICAI on Concurrent Audit, Retired Officers of commercial Banks, qualified Chartered Accountants as Partner or Associate or as Staff, who will be available on all working days to attend to the Concurrent Audit.
d) The minimum skill required that is required for the audit staff of CA firms for conducting Concurrent Audit is as under:
> Should have completed minimum CA inter and should have a minimum work experience of six months in auditing area.
> If the Audit Staff do not have minimum qualification of CA inter, should have a minimum work experience of 3 years in the Bank Audits.
> In case, the Audit Staff who are deputed for conducting Concurrent Audit are Retired Bank Officials (Min: Scale II), the above requirement does not apply.
e) CA Firms who are already engaged / appointed for any other assignment in SBI such as Statutory Auditors, Stock Auditors, Forensic Auditors, etc., are not eligible to apply, to eliminate any room for conflict of interest.
f) CA Firms who are already deployed / posted as Concurrent Auditors in SBI are not eligible to apply.
g) Existing CA firms in the wait list will be continued subject to the fulfilling the eligibility criteria as on the date of engagement & annual review. No changes in RBI grade, Constitution, not engaged for other works in our Bank as Stock & Receivables Auditor, Statutory Auditor etc.
h) As on the date of advertisement, Chartered Accountant Firms which are under cooling period of one year after completing three years of Concurrent Audit in State Bank of India in any of the Circle Audit Office (CAO) are not eligible to apply.
i) Where CA Firm is having more than one office in different geographical locations, such CA Firms can apply for empanelment separately for each office / location under each CAO subject to:
> Should have at least one office under the jurisdiction of CAO.
> Separate designated Chartered Accountant should be available for conducting Concurrent Audit.
> Maximum of three branches / CPCs / Special Outfits shall be allotted to a single firm, irrespective of geographical location as per the vacancy position at the sole discretion of the Bank. In case more than one RACC / CCV allotted under Cluster Audit, it will be treated as one branch.
3. SUBMISSION OF APPLICATION:
The duly filled in application form in a sealed cover superscribed as “Application for Empanelment of Chartered Accountant Firms for Concurrent Audit at Branches / CPCs/ Special Outfits” should be submitted through online (MS Forms) and hard copies by post / courier / hand delivery and reach to respective Circle Audit Office (CAO).
The application and all correspondence and documents relating to this process must be written in English. The applicant must provide individual and factual replies to specific questions asked in the application. Documents submitted should be complete in all respects as required.
i. Application as per Annexure — I needs to be submitted duly filled in with required particulars accompanied by copies of supporting documents i.e. Constitution of the Firm (Company / Partnership/ Proprietorship firm / LLP), RBI Grading certificate, Experience certificate, etc. All supporting documents to Application must be self-attested by the authorized signatory for the applicant firm.
ii. Incomplete application and application without required supportive documents will not be considered by the Bank.
iii. Submission of application online is mandatory. A printout of the application submitted online, duly signed to be attached to the relevant documents before sending to the CAO concerned.
4. MODIFICATIONS AND / OR WITHDRAWAL OF APPLICATION:
Application once submitted will be treated as final and no further correspondence will be entertained. As no subsequent modification of application / documents are permissible, the firms are advised to exercise utmost care in filling up and submission of application / documents.
5. OFFERS BY A THIRD-PARTY:
The applicants are not permitted to authorize their Agents/brokers, etc. (including individuals and/or third-party firms/companies) to either collect or submit the application/ documents on their behalf. The Bank will summarily reject such requests and arrangements. No subcontracting of the empanelment is permissible.
6. SELECTION PROCESS:
i) Applications received online, complete in all respect and within the prescribed time, will be scrutinized on the basis of the basic eligibility criteria as given above at Para 2 by a Selection Committee formed for the said purpose. Then the applications not accompanied by all the required details along with printout of online submission application and supporting documents would be liable for rejection.
ii) The Bank reserves the right to disqualify any or all applications on the basis of their responses without assigning any reasons, whatsoever. Those applicants who satisfy the requirements and specifications as determined by the Bank as per the terms and conditions of this document shall be short-listed.
iii) Those applicants who fulfill all the basic eligibility criteria will be evaluated based on location of firm, residential status of partners, experience, reputation, availability of sufficient trained personnel (ICAI Trained article clerks/ retired commercial bank officers) with the firm and such other factors as the Bank may deem fit for its requirements.
iv) The prima facie scrutiny of the applications will be done by a Screening Committee appointed by competent authority.
v) The final selection of the CA firms will be approved by a Selection Committee at IAD and will be final. No further correspondence in this regard shall be entertained.
vi) Only selected CA firms will be intimated by email through respective CAOs.
vii) Bank also reserves the right to make query with the firm or any other agency, ask for additional information, particulars, and submission of one, some or more undertakings from any firm at any point of time. None of such act shall be deemed as an offer of empanelment as Concurrent Auditor by the Bank to the firm unless and until Bank intimates in writing to the firm regarding allocation of any branch / unit for concurrent audit.
7. Types of Audit:
a. Regular Concurrent Audit (RCA): Regular Concurrent Audit is a full-time audit and to be conducted on daily basis.
b. Cluster Audit: Two or more branches are formed into cluster and audit to be conducted on weekly basis. Cluster Audit is mainly done at Currency Chest branches.
c. With regard to RACCs, bank at its discretion may allot more than one RACC with a maximum cap of three RACCs for one CA Firm. In case more than one RACC / CCV audit is allotted under Cluster Approach, it will be treated as one branch. Additional compensation of Rs.5000/- per month for each additional RACC shall be paid to the CA Firm. CA Firm shall conduct audit at least one day in a week at each RACC, where three RACCs are allotted under Cluster approach and at least two days in a week at each RACC, where two RACCs are allotted under Cluster approach.
8. SCOPE OF AUDIT:
The broad areas to be covered in the Concurrent Audit are as indicated in Annexure-III and shall be revised from time to time based on the requirements of the Bank. Concurrent audit will be online as well as any other method / process to be adopted by the Bank.
9. TERMS & CONDITIONS:
Details of Terms and Conditions in respect of empanelment are as per Annexure- IV.
10. VALIDITY OF OFFER:
The successful applicants will be placed in the Select list and respective CAOs shall be making offer as per the merit list to the CA Firms as & when the vacancy / need arises. On acceptance of the offer by CA firm, have to execute the Service Level Agreement within 10 days of issuance of offer letter. The tenure of CA firms engaged as Concurrent Auditors shall not be more than 3 years on continuous basis, subject to satisfactory performance as reviewed periodically. Period of contract during the currency of the contract can be varied by the Bank based on its requirement.
11. DELIVERY, REPORTING AND REVIEWING SYSTEM:
The Concurrent Audits should be conducted in the branches / CPCs / special outfits as per the agreed time frame as per WBCAS / Bank’s Concurrent Audit Manual, a copy / soft copy of which will be made available to selected firms after allotment of a branch / special outfit.
The Concurrent Auditor has to prepare Audit reports as per specified standards/formats as given in the said manual and as will be required by the Bank from time to time.
12. REMUNERATION:
i. Regular Concurrent Audit (RCA): The Remuneration payable is based on the size of the branch ranging from Rs 40,000 to Rs 80,000 as under:
| Branch Type | Range/ Remuneration | Remarks |
| Corporate Credit Branches | Rs 55,000 to Rs 80,000 | Remuneration will be fixed based on the credit portfolio of the branches. |
| Credit CPCs | Rs 55,000 to Rs 65,000 | |
| Retail Branches | Rs 45,000 to Rs 65,000 | |
| Non-Credit CPCs | Rs 40,000 to Rs 45,000 | |
| CAG & Special Outfits | Remuneration shall be based on the nature and criticality of the activities in the auditee unit, the size of the business audited, and the special skills required for CA Firm to conduct audit. | |
ii. Cluster Audit:
| Branch Type | Remuneration |
| Cluster Audit of CCV & Other cluster (Forex / FSLO, etc.) | For conducting Currency Chest Transaction Verification and Other Cluster Audit, the remuneration payable to CA firm is fixed as Rs. 3,000/-per visit to the branch. |
| Cluster Audit of RACCs | For each additional RACC, additional compensation of Rs.5000/- per month shall be paid to the CA Firm under Cluster Approach. |
iii. Other Audits:
| Branch / Outfit | Remuneration |
| Offsite audit of SWIFT /FSLO | The Concurrent Auditors conducting offsite SWIFT / FSLO audit shall be paid an additional remuneration of Rs. 6,000/-per branch and Rs. 6,000/- in case of offsite Swift / FSLO audit of more than one branch. |
Note: Once the remuneration is fixed and Service Level Agreement (SLA) is executed, it has to be continued till the expiry of the SLA, notwithstanding there is increase / decrease in the advances level during the period covered under SLA. No review of the remuneration would be done during the SLA / contract period. However, Bank reserves a right to exclude any branch /unit out of the scope of Concurrent Audit, which will be communicated at least one month in advance.
13. PAYMENT TERMS:
i) The payment for the audit work done will be made on submission of invoices with required particulars on completion of each calendar month. No payment is to be made unless all the monthly / periodical concurrent audit reports are submitted by the firm. Payment will also be subject to recovery if any penalties, damages, etc., from the firm.
ii) TDS as applicable will be recovered from the bill amount while making payments and Form-16 will be issued as per law. In case of omission of any TDS by Bank, the same must be brought to the notice of the Bank and the firm has to return the amount to Bank towards TDS.
14. PENALTY PROVISIONS:
Penalty Provisions are given as per Annexure — V.
15. SECRECY ISSUES:
i) The select / empaneled firm and its employees will strictly undertake not to record by any means or to communicate or allow to be recorded by any means or communication to any person or divulge in any way any information relating to the conversations, events, ideas, concepts, know-how, techniques, data, facts, figures and all information, howsoever concerning or relating to the Bank and its affairs to which the audit firm /their employees, etc., have access in the course of performance of the contract. The successful applicants will on award of contract will execute a non-disclosure agreement and declaration of fidelity and secrecy as per the Bank’s standard format. All personnel of the Concurrent Auditor, before commencing the Audit have to execute a declaration of fidelity and secrecy as per the format prescribed by the Bank and submit valid KYC documents at allotted branch / BPR outfit / Unit.
ii) No data in any name can be transferred or converted to any other media by the representative of firms under any circumstances. No public platform or social media or any media whatsoever name it may be known can be used for any matter and issues relating to concurrent audit and relation, rights, responsibilities and obligations of the firm or Bank.
iii) All the information contained in this document is solely for the purpose indicated in this process. Reproduction of all or any part of this process by any person for any purpose other than for the purpose of responding to this or for any other purpose expressly permitted by this shall be treated as unauthorized and illegal and the Bank reserve the right to take appropriate action in such circumstances.
16. INDEMNITY TO THE BANK:
i) The empaneled firm shall indemnify SBI and keep indemnified against any loss or damage that State Bank of India may sustain on account of any unprofessional act causing downtime of mission critical systems, disruption to business operations, data loss, third-party claims on account of violation of patents, trademark, designs and other intellectual property rights, etc.
ii) Bank’s data, strategies, etc., should not be revealed or shared with any third parties including any other bank. The firm and its partners will remain liable to the Bank for any act of omission and commission during the period the period of concurrent audit which may come to light at any subsequent time by any agency including the Bank.
17. TERMINATION OF CONTRACT:
i) The performance of the selected empaneled firms will be continuously reviewed by the Bank in terms of various requirement specified in Annexure-V of this document, appointment letter, SLA, Concurrent Audit Manual / processes and RBI directives/notifications on concurrent and various communications by the Bank to the firms. Based on the review, if the selected firm fails to satisfy / maintain their commitment with respect to timely conduct of the audit, quality and content of the audit reports, the contract may be terminated by Bank by giving one month’s written notice to the firm. Regarding quality and content of the audit reports, banks decision is final and binding on the firm.
ii) Bank may terminate the contract by giving one months’ notice in case of deletion of any branch from coverage of concurrent audit when relocation of the firm to another branch is not feasible.
iii) Firm has to give one months’ prior written notice to bank to accept any assignment requiring relinquishing the present assignment.
iv) In case of any suppression of fact which the firm is required to disclose or intimate to the Bank within stipulated time during the period of contract, it will be treated as unethical act and the Bank can terminate the contract without giving any advance notice and the firm will be reported to RBI and ICAI for blacklisting. In addition, Bank will be entitled to indemnity and recovery of damages from the outgoing firm.
v) In additions to this, other circumstances leading to termination of contract, periodicity of notice, compensations have been incorporated in the Service Level Agreement (SLA) to be executed by the firms before taking up the concurrent audit at allotted branches / CPCs / special outfits.
In all other circumstances, contract may be terminated by either party giving one months’ notice or payment of full amount of remuneration including GST to the other party. Under no circumstance the one month periodicity for termination can be reduced.
vi) SBI’ s decision in this regard will be final. In case of termination of this contract, the SBI shall have the right to avail services of any other Audit firm to continue the process without any let or hindrance from de-paneled firm, whose services are to be terminated and outgoing firm also has to provide all necessary help, at their own cost, for smooth switch over.
vii) Any work done till such time, working papers and should be handed over to the Bank, without any demur. The work should not be disclosed to any other organization/bank.
18. DEPLOYMENT:
The allotment of branches / CPCs / special outfits to the selected firms will be based on the suitability of the firm vis-a-vis the size, volume of business and criticality of the operations of the branches/ CPCs / special outfits to be decided by Circle Audit Office (CAO).
| Grade of CA Firms | Deployment |
| Grade I/II/III | At any of the identified branches |
| Grade IV | i. At Retail Asset Credit Centres (RACC) situated mostly in semi urban centres (Regular Concurrent Audit).
i. At Currency Chest branches for conducting Currency Chest Transaction Verification (CCV) on cluster basis (Weekly audit). |
The list of tentative Centres where the Concurrent Auditors are proposed to be engaged is placed as Annexure VI.
Other than the centres mentioned in Annexure VI, vacancy may arise at other centres during the year on account of completion of tenure of Concurrent Auditors / resignation of CAs / identification of new branches / CPCs / special outfits. These branches / CPCs / special outfits will be allotted to the Concurrent Auditors from the Select / empaneled list in order of merit, as and when the need arises.
CAOs may allot branches / CPCs / special outfits to the selected CA firms in order of merit either Regular Concurrent Audit (RCA) branch or Cluster Audit branches or combination of both RCA & Cluster Audit branches, subject to not exceeding three branches / CPCs / special outfits to a CA firm, including if already doing concurrent audit of any of the SBI branch. In case more than one RACC / CCV audit is allotted under Cluster Approach, it will be treated as one branch.
On non-acceptance of offer made by CAO to CA firm for the preferred three centres, their name will be placed in the bottom of the wait list. In case of non-acceptance of offer for other than the preferred centres, the name will continue in the same order of the merit list.
19. DISCLAIMER:
There is no commitment or obligations, whatsoever on the part of the issuer of this process, or officials associated with it within the Bank, regarding the implementation for any future plans. Any assumptions made by bidders, on the basis of information shared herein, will be at their own risk and responsibility.
20. ADDRESS FOR COMMUNICATION:
The Address for Communication to concerned Circle Audit Office (CAO) is as per the list enclosed as Annexure — II.
SCOPE OF AUDIT
A. Cash transactions —Verify
i) Surprise physical verification of cash at branch and ATM along with safekeeping and custody.
ii) Daily cash transactions, particularly any abnormal receipts & payments.
iii) Surprise verification of cash by an officer other than the joint custodian.
iv) Proper accounting of and availability of insurance cover for inward and outward cash remittances.
v) Accounting of currency chest transactions and delays/omission in reporting to RBI.
Reporting of Counterfeit Currency.
vi) All cash transactions of Rs. 10 lakh and above reported in CTR.
vii) That all cash transaction of Rs. 50,000 and above invariably indicate Pan No./Form 60.
B. Clearing transactions —Verify
i) Reconciliation with bank’s account at Clearing House and review of old outstanding entries for reconciliation.
ii) Drawings allowed against uncleared instruments sanction by the controlling authority.
C. Remittances/Bills for Collection —Verify
i) Remittance of funds by way of DDs/TTs/MTs/TC/NEFT/RTGS any other mode in cash exceeding the prescribed limit.
ii) Documents of title (lorry receipts, railway receipts, etc.) obtained in favour of the bank and the concerned transporters are on the IBA approved list.
iii) Outstanding balance in DP and other transit accounts pending payment beyond prescribed period.
D. Deposits —Verify
i) Adherence to KYC/AML guidelines in opening of fresh accounts and monitoring of transactions in such accounts.
ii) Large term deposits received and repaid including checking of repayment of term deposit in cash beyond permissible limit.
iii) Accounts opened and closed within a short span of time i.e., accounts with quick mortality.
iv) Activation and operations in inoperative accounts.
v) Value dated transactions.
vi) Settlement of claims of deceased customers and payment of TDRs against lost receipts and obtention of indemnities, etc. To check revival of dormant accounts and accounts with minimum activities.
vii) Examination of multiple credits to single accounts.
E. Treasury operations —Verify
I) If branch has acted within HO instructions for purchase and sale of securities.
ii) Periodic confirmation of Derivative contracts with counterparties.
iii) Adherence to regulatory guidelines with respect to Treasury deals/structured deals.
iv) Controls around deal modification/cancellation/deletion, wherever applicable.
v) Cancellation of forward contracts and passing/recovery of exchange gain/loss.
vi) Gaps and OPL maintained in different currencies vis-a-vis prescribed limit for the same.
vii) Reconciliation of Nostro and Vostro accounts-balances in Nostro accounts in different foreign currencies are within the limits prescribed by the bank.
viii) Collection of underlying documents for Derivative & Forward contracts. Delays, if any.
ix) Instances of booking and cancellation of forward contracts with the same counterparty within a span of couple of days or a few days.
x) Sample check some of the deals and comment on the correctness of computation.
xi) Checking of application money, reconciliation of SGL account, compliance to RBI
xii) Checking of custody of unused BR Forms & their utilization in terms of Master Circular on Prudential Norms on Classification, Valuation and Operations of Investment Portfolio by banks.
xiii) To ensure that the treasury operations of the bank have been conducted in accordance with the instructions issued by the RBI from time to time.
F. Loans & Advances-Verify
i) Report Bills/cheques purchased, if in the nature of accommodation bills.
ii) Proper follow-up of overdue bills purchased/discounted/negotiated.
iii) Fresh loans and advances (including staff advances) have been sanctioned properly and in accordance with delegated authority.
iv) Reporting of instances of exceeding delegated powers to controlling/head office by the branch and have been confirmed or ratified by the competent authority.
v) Securities and documents have been received as applicable to particular loan.
vi) Securities have been properly charged/ registered and valued by competent person. Whether the same has been entered in the bank’s system.
vii) All conditions of sanction have been complied with.
viii) Master data relating to limit, rate of interest, EMI, moratorium period details have been correctly entered and updated/modified in the system.
ix) Value dated entries passed in advances accounts.
x) Post disbursement supervision and follow-up is proper, such as timely receipt of stock and book debt statements, QIS data, analysis of financial data submitted by borrower, verification of securities by third parties, renewal of limits, insurance, etc.
xi) Whether there is any misutilization of the loans and whether there are instances indicative of diversion of funds.
xii) Compliance of prudential norms on income recognition, asset classification and provisioning pertaining to advances.
xiii) Whether monthly updating of drawing power in the computer system on the basis of stock statements/book debt statement/ other financial data received from the borrowers.
xiv) Recovery in compromise cases is in accordance with the terms and conditions of the compromise agreement.
xv) To check review and renewal of loans.
G. LC/BG —Verify
i. LC/BG issued/amended as per the approved format/model guarantee prescribed and standard limitation clause incorporated. Whether counter indemnity obtained as prescribed.
ii. Any deviation from the terms of sanction in regard to margin, security, purpose, period, beneficiary, collection of charges, commission/fee, etc.
iii. Whether payment is made to the debit of party’s account on due date without creating overdraft/debiting suspense, in case of deferred payment guarantee.
H. Foreign Exchange Transactions-Verify
i) Recovery of charges as per HO Guidelines.
ii) Packing credit released, whether backed by LC or confirmed export order.
iii) Availability of ECGC cover and compliance with ECGC terms.
iv) ) Submission of statutory returns on export/ import transactions, like BEF statements, XOS, write off of export bills, etc. Follow up of outstanding export bills and exchange control copy of bill of entry.
v) Irregularities in opening of new accounts and operation in NRO, FCNR, NRE, EEFC, etc., and debits/credits entries permissible under the rules.
vi) Whether operations in FCRA accounts are as permitted by MHA and FCRA guidelines.
vii) Booking, utilization, extension and cancellation of forward contracts.
I. House Keeping —Verify
i) Exceptional transaction reports are generated and verified by branch staff as prescribed.
ii) Review of all balance sheet heads and outstanding entries in accounts, e.g., suspense, sundry and inter-bank accounts. Review of follow up of entries pending for reversal.
iii) Scrutiny of daily vouchers with more emphasis on high value transaction including high value expenses and debit entries in Suspense account.
iv) Debits in accounts where signatures are pending for scanning.
v) Whether records related to KYC/vouchers and other critical areas are sent to specific places like archival center, record room as per stipulated periodicity.
vi) Adherence to KYC/AML guidelines in opening fresh account and subsequent modifications of records and monitoring of transaction.
J. Verification of Merchant Banking Business-Verify
i) Whether the instructions given by the controlling branch are properly followed where the branch acts as a collecting branch for issue business.
ii) Whether daily collection position is advised to the controlling branch.
iii) Whether recovery of the commission/fees and out of pocket expenses as agreed with the respective companies and whether the competent authority has duly authorized any waiver or reduction of such charges.
iv) Whether the prescribed preventive vigilance measures are observed by the branch.
v) Where data entry or data processing work is entrusted to outside agencies, the competent authority duly approves these and the prescribed stamped indemnity has been obtained from such agencies.
vi) Whether dividend interest warrants/refund payment accounts of companies are funded prior to dispatch of the relative warrants by the companies and there is no misuse of the facility.
vii) Whether Claims for reimbursement of amounts of paid warrants received from paying branches / CPCs / special outfits are processed and debited to the concerned company’s account promptly.
viii) Whether charge on security has been created, wherever debenture trustee activity is undertaken by bank.
K. SWIFT Transactions – Verify
i) Inward & Outward messages to be verified from CSIG / daily reports
ii) Whether the amounts of financial messages / transactions are debited/ credited in the respective customer accounts / contra accounts.
L. Transaction Verification
i) Verify the genuineness and authenticity of the vouchers uploaded
ii) Verify whether transactions are correctly reflected in the respective customer accounts in CBS.
M. Others —Verify
i) Compliance of provisions relating to Tax Deducted at Source, service tax, trade tax, other duties and taxes.
ii) Physical verification of inventory, control over issue of inventory, safe keeping and custody of security forms. Report any loss of such items.
iii) Physical verification of other deliverable items, control over issue, safe keeping and custody.
iv) Physical verification of Gold coins, control over issue, safe keeping and custody. Checking of Gold sale transactions.
v) Custody and movement of branch keys.
vi) Locker keys and locker operations-linking of FDR as security for locker/operation of locker/inoperative lockers/ nomination/other issues.
vii) Safe custody of branch documents like death claim cases, issuance of duplicate DD/PO/FDR, checking of indemnities, etc. and verification of documents executed during the period under audit.
viii) Reporting of frauds
(ix) Certification of documents / claims / Pre-disbursement check, compliance certificate etc
N. Currency Chest Verification Audit (CCV audit under Cluster Approach)
i) Concurrent Auditors have to verify the opening Balance, closing balance and transactions of Currency Chest, Transactions related Registers, Currency Chest BGL ac with that of e-Kuber of RBI and confirm that they are tallying.
ii) The verification at present is to be done at weekly intervals as on Friday, on next working day.
iii) The Concurrent Auditor shall issue a Yearly certificate of balance as on last working day of Feb and Last working day of March each year.
iv) Number of days of working will be 4-5 per month with a maximum 6 days in the months of Feb and March.
v) As RBI has not yet provided the access to e-Kuber, the Branch joint custodians shall provide the printout of the e-Kuber to the Concurrent Auditor along with a printout of BGL account transactions and other Currency Chest transaction registers. No enquiry rights in CBS will be necessary nor provided to the Concurrent Auditors.
vi) Access to WBCAS will be provided and separate screens for recording the data and generation of certificates is under progress. Relevant value statements have already been provided for recording observations.
P. Miscellaneous:
i) Any other need-based work related to audit which may be entrusted by the bank from time to time.
ii) Looking Beyond Value Statements
STATE BANK OF INDIA
INTERNAL AUDIT DEPARTMENT, HYDERABAD
TERMS & CONDITIONS FOR EMPANELMENT OF CHARTERED ACCOUNTANT FIRMS AS CONCURRENT AUDITORS
1) Preference will be given to those firms which have ICAI trained Concurrent Auditors and those firms which have concurrent audit experience in State Bank of India (SBI).
2) Concurrent Auditors shall normally be positioned at the location where the selected Branches / CPCs / special outfits operate.
3) Concurrent audit to be done on daily basis. Trained representative of the firm (Articled Clerk trained by ICAI on concurrent audit) / retired commercial banks officers /qualified Chartered Accountants to be available on all days.
4) One of the Principal Partners or senior partner to visit the branch at least once in a week, depending on the business and risk profile of the branch/BPR Outfits. Number of visits may be increased by CAO depending upon the volume and need at the branch / outfit under concurrent audit. At the areas, where the firm do not has its office but allotted Concurrent Audit, the partner should visit the branch at least once in a month.
5) Bank will impose financial penalty for unauthorized absence, non-detection of income leakage, major lacunae in conduct of account including reporting to RBI/ ICAI (as per Annexure- V).
6) Bank may impose non-financial penalty leading to termination of contract for instances of failure to comment on fraud, misappropriation of funds, any other serious irregularities which result in loss to the Bank.
7) If there is any change in the constitution of your firm or you suffer from any statutory
disqualification, you must inform the Bank immediately.
8) CA firms to furnish personal details / comply with KYC norms, viz., proof of identity and address proof / contact numbers / contacts in case of emergency, etc., of all the representatives of the firm who visit the Branch / CPC, for security reasons.
9) The partners / representatives of CA firms who visit the Branch / CPC shall make their presence in a register maintained for the said purpose.
10) CA firms shall liaise with the Branch / CPC on a regular basis and provide their periodic audit plan and enable the Branch / CPC to furnish / provide documents without affecting loss of audit man days for CA firms and / or customer service is not affected in the Branch / CPC.
11) The representatives of the CA firms shall not enter prohibited / restricted areas, viz., IT server room, record room, strong room, locker room and / or any other security related areas without the prior approval from the Branch Manager.
12) CA firms shall not hold any documents overnight in their custody. Hence, all vouchers / books/ registers/ security document / title deeds / any other documents / vital correspondence, etc., are to be returned to the officials of the Branch / CPC on each day.
13) Branch / CPC shall be advised to provide applicable ” Enquiry” rights / access to the Bank’s Core Banking System to the representatives of the CA firm.
14) CA firms shall not seek copies (hard / soft /photostat) of Bank’s instructions / circulars / vital correspondence / study materials, etc.
15) Branch / CPC will be providing reasonable level of stationary.
16) CA firms shall submit their bill / invoice on a monthly basis.
17) CA firms to furnish their bank account details along with IFSC code to enable the Bank to credit the audit fee to the credit of their account on a monthly basis.
18) CA firms shall endeavour to maintain continuity of their Assistant / Articled clerk at the Branch / CPC, so that there will not be any compromise on the quality of assigned tasks due to frequent change of Assistant / Articled clerk.
19) The Concurrent Auditor will be fully responsible for the quality of the audit, timely completion of audit and submission of the audit reports and reporting to controllers.
20) Subject to the other provisions of this document, firm allocated to any branch can be reallocated to any other branch for any period as per the requirement of the Bank.
21) Documents will be executed by all the partners before taking up the assignment of current audit of allotted branch.
22) The auditors engaged for CA are authorized to have access to any documents and records considered necessary for the performance of their functions within the auditee unit. He can also request members of the staff and management of the auditee unit to supply such information and explanations, as may be needed in carrying out his work, which is to be provided within a reasonable period of time.
23) Any change in the name, address, constitution and partnership deed must be reported to bank within 15 days of such change with necessary supporting documents. Failing which, it will be treated as deliberate suppression of facts by the firm and thereby making them liable to compensate the bank for such change. In such eventualities, bank also reserves its right to terminate the contract with such firm without notice.
24) New partners are to sign documents within 15 days of joining and not doing so will attract the provision relating to deliberate suppression of facts.
25) Outgoing partner will remain liable to Bank to the extent and period as determined by the Bank on case-to-case basis.
26) Firm when engaged as concurrent auditor cannot assign/subcontract the job in any sense of the term and in any form whatsoever it may be to any other person. Any assignment/subcontract of the job in some others favour either through operation of law or otherwise will deem the original contract as terminated.
27) In case any information furnished during the application process is found at any point of time, to be incorrect, SBI will not only summarily reject the application / terminate the contract without any notice, but also the applicant may be blacklisted from any future such process with the Bank.
28) SBI may share such information with ICAI, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) or Indian Bankers’ Association (IBA) which is the voluntary representative body of all banking institutions in the country or any other organization, who, in turn, may share the information among its member institutions.
29) Any terms and conditions beyond the scope of this process added by the bidder, whether implicitly or explicitly stated in any of the responses, will be ignored.
30) Notwithstanding anything contained herein above, the Bank reserves its right to terminate the contract by giving 30 days prior notice to the other side without assigning any reason.
31) It is the responsibility of the CA Firm to inform the CAO immediately in case they are selected as Statutory Auditor / any other auditor in SBI.
32) Our Firm will take up Concurrent Audit assignment at not more than 3 branches / CPCs / special outfits across India. If Bank finds at a later stage that our firm has taken up assignment at more than 3 branches / CPCs / special outfits, Bank reserves the right to cancel all the assignments of the firm.
Place:
Date:
Signature of the applicant with seal
ANNEXURE -I – APPLICATION FORM
Online Application Form
https://forms.cloud.microsoft/r/thvx8wCQtv
