IBBI chief bats for lesser compliance requirements without reducing regulatory effectiveness

Mital, as well as Sebi Securities and Exchange of India Chairperson Tuhin Kanta Pandey and NFRA National Financial Reporting Authority Chairperson Nitin Gupta shared their views at an event organised by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India ICAI.

Efforts should be made to reduce compliance requirements while ensuring that the effectiveness of regulations is not reduced, IBBI Chairperson Ravi Mital said on Saturday, emphasising the importance of strong corporate governance. Mital, as well as Sebi (Securities and Exchange of India) Chairperson Tuhin Kanta Pandey and NFRA (National Financial Reporting Authority) Chairperson Nitin Gupta shared their views at an event organised by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI). They were speaking at a session at the World Forum of Accountants (WOFA) at Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh. In his speech, the IBBI Chairperson touched upon various aspects of corporate governance and stressed the need for better implementation of laws as well as ensuring lesser compliance without reducing the effectiveness of regulations. Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI), a key institution in implementing the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), has asked IIM Ahmedabad to look at its regulations and to make compliance requirements easier. Mital mentioned that the ICAI could look again at the standards of accounting to ensure that audits conducted by chartered accountants are as strict as those done by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG). There is no shortage of regulations but they should be more effective, Mital said and also suggested the idea of having external evaluation of companies' boards. He also wondered whether there should be shareholders' nominees directors at corporates apart from an improved communication framework wherein shareholders have as much information as the management of a company. Sebi Chairperson Tuhin Kanta Pandey called for deeper collaboration with chartered accountants. ''Regulations can design frameworks, regulations can enforce minimum standards but regulations alone cannot create an ethical culture,'' Pandey said. He also noted that technology would enhance the audit, but only character can protect its credibility. NFRA Chairperson Nitin Gupta talked about the concept of viability assessment of companies in the context of entities going into insolvency resolution process despite being 'going concern'. According to him, a longer horizon for assessing an entity as a 'going concern' could be looked at compared to the current time frame of 12 months. Further, Gupta suggested that the ICAI could look at a separate refresher course for accounting professionals like in certain other professions. ICAI President Charanjot Singh Nanda described chartered accountants as ''financial soldiers'' and mentioned their efforts in relation to the increasing GST (Goods and Services Tax) collections. The institute has more than five lakh members.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)