Accounting regulator ICAI on Thursday said all listed companies would be audited by only those who have been certified by the Peer Review Board of the institute.”The council had accepted the recommendation of Sebi that audit of listed companies shall be carried out by auditors who have undergone Peer Review Process and have been issued Peer Review Certificate by the Board.
“The decision is effective for accounting periods commencing on or after April 1, 2009,” the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) said in a statement. Peer review is the process of evaluation of performance by other chartered accountants in order to maintain or enhance the quality of the work or performance. It helps in obtaining an unbiased evaluation.
The ICAI said the Board is in the process of covering those audit firms that have not yet been selected for the Peer Review Process.
After the multi-crore rupee Satyam scam came to light, Sebi had announced a peer review of the Sensex and Nifty companies to preclude similar frauds.
Most Important Announcement for Audit firms of Listed Companies – (08-04-2009)
Members may be aware that the Council had accepted the recommendation of Securities & Exchange Board of India (SEBI) that audit of listed companies shall be carried out by the auditors who have undergone Peer Review Process and have been issued Peer Review Certificate by the Peer Review Board
The above decision is effective for accounting periods commencing on or after April 1, 2009.
Consequent to the above decision, all the auditors of Listed Companies are required to undergo Peer Review Process and get Peer Review Certificate issued from the Peer Review Board.
The Peer Review Board is making all out efforts to cover those audit firms, which are not yet selected for Peer Review Process. While the Board will be sending a letter to each such audit firm, it will be in the professional interest of such firms to immediately get selected for Peer Review by emailing us the following information at email id [email protected];
Name of the Firm
FRN or Membership No. in case of Proprietor firm.
Latest Contact details i.e. complete address, Tel No with STD Code, Mobile No. & email id.
The Firms who have already been selected under the Peer Review Process and their review is in progress at different stages may also hasten up their Peer Review Process and ensure that their Final report is submitted by the Reviewer to the Board. Such firms are requested to furnish the above details at S.No.1 to 3. along with their present status of review.
In order to complete the Peer Review Exercise timely and smoothly all the audit firms of listed companies and their Reviewers are hereby requested to expedite their Peer Review Process.
About this matter my view is that " just approving by peer review board is one moe leanthy procedure for us but not enough for preventing this all " we need more power and individuality to maintain our presense in the statutory requirement and standered .