‘Fraud detection is now responsibility of CAs’-Business Line 14.12.2013
VISAKHAPATNAM, DEC 13:
The Companies Act 2013 has placed the onus of detection of financial fraud on the auditors (chartered accountants) and therefore the CAs should measure up to the challenge in the changed scenario, according to Subhodh Kumar Agarwal, president of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI).
He was speaking at the inauguration of the annual convention of the southern regional council of the institute here, which was attended by more than 2,000 CAs from the southern states.
“An auditor is no longer expected to be a watchdog, not even a watchhound, but a bloodhound. Some of the provisions of the new Companies Act are too stringent and we have made an appeal to the ministry to reconsider them,” Agarwal said.
He said the CAs should upgrade their skills and knowledge all the time and the institute would make all efforts to help them. The profession has become more challenging, taxing as well as rewarding under the new regulatory regime, he said and expressed the confidence that the fraternity would take these developments in its stride.
Indian Overseas Bank CMD M. Narendra, who was the chief guest, said the CAs/auditors should play a critical role in enabling banks, especially PSU banks, to compete with private banks and foreign banks.
“We should measure up to global standards, for which we require better asset management, and better governance. The role of auditors in credit audit, portfolio audit and benchmarking cannot be overemphasised,” he said.
He said the IOB was offering Rs 1.25 crore loan to the young CAs under a special scheme to set up the office and embark on the career and the senior CAs can get a higher amount at a concessional rate.
K. Raghu, vice-president of the ICAI, said the profession is getting into the specialisation mode and the institute is offering certificate courses in subjects such as forensic audit to enable the CAs to meet the challenges.
Ch. Prasanna Kumar, chairman of the reception committee, welcomed the gathering.
Unclaimed deposits of Rs 3,652 crore lying idle with banks: Govt
NEW DELHI, DEC 13:
Banks have as much as Rs 3,652 crore of unclaimed deposits lying with them, with the State Bank of India (SBI) alone accounting for about 15 per cent of the amount, the government informed Parliament today.
“The total amount of unclaimed deposits (more than 10 years old) lying with all scheduled commercial banks at the end of December 2012 is over Rs 3,652.64 crore,” Finance Minister P Chidambaram said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha.
He said banks are required to submit a return to the Reserve Bank within 30 days of the close of the calendar year for all accounts that have not been operated for 10 years.
Total unclaimed deposits in public sector banks stood at Rs 3,237 crore, while for private sector and foreign lenders they were Rs 340 crore and Rs 75 crore, respectively.
SBI, the country’s largest bank, had Rs 539 crore of total unclaimed deposits. The SBI group, which includes five associate banks, had unclaimed deposits of Rs 714 crore.
Canara Bank had unclaimed funds of Rs 526 crore, followed by Union Bank of India (Rs 390 crore) and Punjab National Bank (Rs 385 crore).
Among private sector players, ICICI Bank had unclaimed deposits of Rs 101 crore while HDFC Bank had Rs 13 crore.
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