ICAI to seek RBI view on bank audit

The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) is planning to approach the Reserve Bank of India and the government for standardising the audit reporting requirements for scheduled commercial banks.

"We are going for standardisation of audit report for various Banks. At present the audit reports for the State Bank of India, nationalised banks and the private sector banks are different, as they are covered by different laws," ICAI president Kamlesh Vikamsey told Business Standard.

Next year onwards, auditors would also be required to confirm whether the financial statements of nationalised banks comply with ICAI's accounting standards.

ICAI has issued this reporting requirement in addition to existing norms which require auditors to furnish their report as per the format prescribed by the RBI.

With the requirement to confirm compliance with accounting standards coming into effect for reports issued after April 2006, auditors would be required to give a positive assertion that the financial statements of the nationalised banks are in conformity.

While banking companies are registered under the Companies Act, the provisions of company law are applicable to them only as far as they are not inconsistent with the provisions of the Banking Regulations Act, 1949.