Comments on: PwC and Satyam – Another Fine Mess You’ve Gotten Yourself Into

By: re: The Auditors » Blog Archive » Being Expedient: PwC Settles Satyam U.S. Class Action

Tue, 10 May 2011 12:40:59 +0000

[...] PwC and Satyam – Another Fine Mess You’ve Gotten Yourself Into, January 26, 2009 [...]

By: re: The Auditors » Blog Archive » All Points Bulletin: Auditor Litigation Spans The Globe

Wed, 09 Mar 2011 22:36:46 +0000

[...] Just ask PwC about India. Or Japan. Or Russia. [...]

By: Satyam Settles; PwC Left In Lurch - Francine McKenna - Accounting Watchdog - Forbes

Mon, 07 Mar 2011 23:54:02 +0000

[...] Price Waterhouse India partners colluded with Satyam management to commit the [...]

By: Suspension of Disbelief in God vs. Professional Skepticism « Irresistible (Dis)Grace

Sun, 21 Feb 2010 22:27:28 +0000

[...] But is this how everything in life works? Well, as I’ve studied accounting, there are a few things that have been drummed over and over. Suspension of disbelief isn’t one of them. Rather, professional skepticism is tremendous, and when auditors aren’t skeptical enough, bad things happen. [...]

By: re: The Auditors » Blog Archive » They Weren’t There: Auditors And The Financial Crisis

Mon, 07 Dec 2009 23:40:54 +0000

[...] the other “expectations gap” we face as journalists when trying to add an independent, objective, and inevitably critical voice [...]

By: Re: Moral Discipline, by Elder Christofferson « Irresistible (Dis)Grace

Re: Moral Discipline, by Elder Christofferson « Irresistible (Dis)Grace — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 17:26:12 +0000

[...] But hold on! Let’s remember something about history. Auditors didn’t even always test for internal controls…and until the big scandals, they didn’t even believe they had a responsibility to actively detect for fraud. Sometimes, the auditors still don’t. [...]

By: Regulation Topic: How not to get sued | Accounting Elf

Regulation Topic: How not to get sued | Accounting Elf — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 17:48:55 +0000

[...] interesting reading to relate Regulation studying to the real world is this article on Re: The Auditors that addresses a case faced by PWC and the auditor’s responsibility to find fraud under the [...]

By: re: The Auditors » Blog Archive » McKenna Quoted In The Guardian

re: The Auditors » Blog Archive » McKenna Quoted In The Guardian — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 01:57:38 +0000

[...] the link to my posts on PwC/Satyam, go here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, [...]

By: re: The Auditors » Blog Archive » The Plot Thickens - Price Waterhouse India Plausibly Culpable

Mon, 20 Apr 2009 09:21:07 +0000

[...] But the two at different points of time did not make any change in their audit plans.” Earlier reports had PricewaterhouseCoopers International Chairman Sam Di Piazza spending much time in India as well [...]

By: Dr PL Joshi

Dr PL Joshi — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 21:54:54 +0000

I have a simple question.
As per ICAI’s regualtions, foreign audit firms like E&Y, PWC , KPMG, and D & T are not allowed to practice auditing work in India .i.e. none of them can
be appointed as a statutory auditors of a company by shareholders in their annual general meeting. In order to act as a statutory auditor, such firms should
be registered with ICAI and none of them are registered with the ICAI. These firms are just affiliates in India and conduct consultancy services. They perform
audit work on behalf of local audit firms who have licenses from ICAI. This means that these foregin firms outsource their auditing services. It also means that the foreign audit firms do not have power in India to attest the financial statements.

If the above is the case, what are the legal liabiliies of PWC in case of Satyam’s frauds? What action the government or ICAI can take against such firms
who do not have the attestion power for financial statements.? The foreign audit firms recruit Indian CAs who are the registered members with ICAI. If any of its member has conducted audit for Satyam, then the action may be taken against the CA s who are the members of ICAI. It means that the punishment may be only to suspend their license for a period of 5 years. So in Satyam case, the legal onus is with the individual CAs who are the employees of PWC India and it will not be easy to take any legal action againt PWC, if upon investigation it is found that auditors have shown professional negligence while conducting the audit or were a part of the fraud. In such a case PWC will lose its reputation and I am afraid that this case will affect its global operations.

Any one can clarify the above position for the benefits of several readers.