The special committee report by Institute of Chartered Accountants of India on the issue of operations of foreign accounting firms in India is expected to be ready by the end of this month.
R Bupathy, president of ICAI, said a seven-member committee has been set up to look into this matter.
"We are awaiting the feedback from the committee. Following this, ICAI would take a stand on this issue. Later, we will send the recommendation to the government," he said.
Speaking at the sidelines of 'Corporate India - The Super Power Summit 2003' in Kolkata on Friday, Bupathy said there should be a level playing field among Indian and foreign firms practising in India.
"In principle, I am not averse to the idea of foreign accounting firms working here. But they should be brought under the same laws as Indian firms. However, the Institute will take a view after the report comes out," he pointed out.
Admitting that multinational firms have expertise in some areas, which should be brought into the country, he said measures should also be taken against erring practitioners.
"For instance, if a CA also does consulting and this leads to a willful mistake, he could be penalised. The same norm should apply to foreign companies," he said.
The president said it was fine for chartered accountants to decide issues like auditor rotation for themselves despite being technically 'interested parties'. "There is no reason why there should be external intervention," he said.
When asked if ICAI had fixed a date for a general meeting of members to decide on auditor rotation norm, he said, "No date has been fixed but the institute elections are in February 2004 and there is enough time before that for the meeting."
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