Beyond accounting

Deferment of Ind-AS for banks is a short-term fix

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has decided to defer the implementation of the Indian Accounting Standards (Ind-AS) for banks for the second year running — this time until further notice. The norms, which were to kick in on April 1, would have enhanced the comparability of the financial statements of local banks with those of their global peers. The reason given by the RBI is that adherence to Ind-AS by banks would have required legislative changes to comply with the new disclosures — an amendment to the third schedule of the Banking Regulation Act (1949). What’s unsaid is that