A Press Meet has been
organized by Eastern India Regional Council of ICAI on 24th August 2012. CA.Jaydeep
N. Shah, President, ICAI, CA Subodh Kr. Agrawal, Vice President, ICAI, CA
Prasun Kr. Bhattacharyya, Chairman, EIRC were present for the media interaction
along with CA. K Rahman Khan, Hon’ble Former Deputy Chairman, Rajya Sabha. The other Regional Council colleagues and
Central Council Members from Eastern Region were also present.
An update on the recent
initiatives taken by the Institute for members, students and in various other
areas is mentioned below:
1) A committee has been set up by Ministry of
Corporate Affairs for following up action points on several issues associated
with Investor Education and grievances redressed under the chairmanship of
President ICAI, CA. Jaydeep N. Shah which also has
representatives from other professional Institutes, SEBI, RBI, and IMC etc. The
Committee has been given important tasks related to develop a 20-point summary
of annual report, financial literacy, color coding of financial products,
effective investor grievance redressed mechanism, etc. The first meeting of
this Committee was recently held in which deliberations have been made to
complete the above action points at the earliest.
2) The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI)
and Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs (IICA) signed a MoU to enhance
initiatives of common and mutual interest on best endeavour basis. A
brainstorming meeting with banks was also held during this occasion wherein
CMDs or top management from 29 banks such as the Reserve Bank of India, State
Bank of India, Punjab National Bank, Overseas Bank of India, etc. were present.
The main objective of this meeting was to formulate capacity building programmes
for senior management functionaries of the banking sector and related
regulators. The meeting focussed on imperative issues and developments in the
field of CSR, IFRS, Corporate Governance and BASEL -III.
3) ICAI
had approached the capital market regulator SEBI and proposed that ICAI can act
as an extended arm of the SEBI in monitoring the Market Intermediaries like
Brokers, Merchant bankers, depositories, clearing corporations, Mutual Funds,
etc. It was also suggested that there should be separate reporting requirement
under Companies Auditor Report Order (CARO) for the Listed and Unlisted
companies due to public interest involved in the listed companies. ICAI also
offered help and involvement in the forensic cell of SEBI to establish and
verify disclosures made by companies in their IPO offer documents and also to
take up cases related to accounts related financial malfeasance.
4) ICAI,
with a view to converge with IFRSs, had formulated the Indian Accounting
Standards (Ind ASs), which were approved by the NACAS and, thereafter, by the
Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA). This Ind ASs has been placed on the
website of the MCA. However, the date on which these Standards will come
into force is yet to be notified by the Ministry. With a view to continue to
remain at par with the IFRSs that are being revised and new IFRSs being issued
by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB), the Institute has
initiated the process of revising the existing Ind ASs and issuing new Ind ASs
in convergence with the new/revised IFRSs. ICAI will also be
revising/issuing new Ind ASs which will be issued by the IASB so that whenever
the Government decides to converge with IFRS, the Ind ASs corresponding to the
IFRS effective on that date are available.
The ICAI, keeping in view the fact that
the existing Accounting Standards will continue to applied on Small and Medium
Enterprises (SMEs) even after the Indian Accounting Standards (Ind ASs) get
notified, has decided to revise the existing Accounting Standards to bring them
in line with the Ind ASs to the extent provisions of Ind ASs provide the less
onerous treatment as compared to existing ASs and improves accounting without
making the same too complex.
5) Vision 2030 document: ICAI had released its Vision 2030 document on 11th
February 2012 which set outs its Vision for 2030, Mission, Strategic Priorities
and Action Plan for the coming three years to achieve its Vision. ICAI aims at
harnessing the opportunities and addressing the challenges presented by the
rapidly changing environment so that, by 2030, ICAI becomes:
World’s leading accounting body, a regulator and
developer of trusted and independent professionals with world class
competencies in accounting , assurance , taxation , finance and business
advisory services.
It sets out its Mission as ICAI will leverage
technology and infrastructure and partner with its stakeholders to:
- Impart world class education, training and professional development
opportunities to create global professionals.
- Develop an independent and transparent regulatory mechanism that
keeps pace with the changing times
- Ensure adherence to highest ethical standards
- Conduct cutting edge research and development in the areas of
accounting , assurance , taxation , finance and business advisory services
- Establish ICAI members and firms as Indian multi-national service
providers.
The six strategic priorities and Action Plan in line
with Vision 2030 are:
- Create enabling framework for and facilitate Indian firms and
professionals to leverage global opportunities.
- Leverage national leadership position to assume leadership in
regional and international accounting fraternity.
- Revitalize education and training systems and establish an enabling
ecosystem to produce globally competitive accounting professionals.
- Adapt regulatory mechanism to the changing times
- Undertake branding and awareness campaign to enhance public
perception of ICAI and professionals affiliated to ICAI
- Strengthen organizational infrastructure and
technological capabilities to improve engagement with all stakeholders.
(A) Initiatives
towards Nation building:
The profession has lived up to its vision and
expectations as one of the most vibrant forces of socio-economic growth,
integral to the success of the nation. Regarded as the backbone of Indian
financial system, the ICAI has truly been a partner in nation building.
Accounting Standards to be implemented in
Government Educational Institutions:
A working group, having nominations both from the ICAI and the Ministry of Human Resource Development
(HRD) was formed for suggesting Accounting Standards for implementation in
educational institutions of Department of Higher Education, Ministry of HRD. It
was recommended that all educational
institutions, which generally
follow diverse accounting practices
and different basis
of accounting, should be
mandated to apply
accrual basis of accounting and Accounting Standards issued by the
ICAI. The ICAI emphasized that all educational institutions should
follow a common format for presentation of its general purpose financial statements
to ensure proper
accountability, financial
discipline, end-use of
funds and to
meet the needs of
stakeholders.
Various universities
have requested ICAI to provide training to their officials on conversion from
cash to accrual and fund based accounting. A meeting with the Vice Chancellors of 130 Deemed
Universities was organised by Ministry of HRD. One of the agenda items at the
said meeting was adoption of ICAI Accounting Standards on which a detailed
presentation was made by the ICAI followed up by a Q&A session.
Capacity Building
Measures for the State, Central Government, PSUs and other Organizations: The ICAI is also involved with the review, analysis
and recommends measures to the Local, State & Central Government, PSUs and
other organizations in Policy assessment, planning and execution in public
finance, reforms in government accounting system and maximizing public fund’s
utility to augment and vitalize economic growth for end beneficiaries and
enhance accountability and transparency. In this regard various workshops were
recently organised for Municipal Corporation, Delhi, Municipal
Corporation, Kolkata, Department of Post, Rural development & Panchayat
Department, Punjab, Finance & Planning Department, Haryana, ESIC, Public
Enterprises Department and Finance Department, Government of Tamil Nadu on various relevant topics.Some of the key topics
were:
·
The role &
responsibilities of Nominee Directors on Board of Government Companies.
·
On need for
reforms in accounting, to reduce the leakages of revenue and the importance of
accrual accounting.
·
For
conversion from single entry accounting system to double entry accounting
system.
Guidance Notes on Real Estate, Gas & Carbon
Emissions: The Institute had issued 3
new Guidance notes for its members. These guidance notes will have significant
bearing on how economic activities in the real estate, oil & gas and other
energy related sectors are accounted by companies. In case of real estate
sector, the guidance note will help bring uniformity in the way real estate companies
recognise their incomes. Currently, there is no uniform system for recognition
of income by real estate companies.
Independent audits proposed for all
co-operative societies, NGOs - ICAI had also urged for
independent information system audits to be made mandatory for all co-operative
societies, NGOs and educational trusts apart from internal audits. The
independent audit through chartered Accountants would ensure transparency and
reduce the discrepancies. The ICAI is in the process of creating an exclusive
knowledge portal for the benefit of various non-profit organizations, the
Co-operative sectors and the members practicing in these sectors. The portal is
intended to serve as a single window imparting knowledge about these sectors.
Uniform Accounting
& Auditing Framework for Political Parties:
The Election Commission of India (ECI) had approached ICAI, for recommending a
financial reporting framework for political parties in India. The ICAI had
accordingly submitted its report on ‘Uniform Accounting & Auditing
Framework for Political Parties’ to the Election Commission containing
certain recommendations on Accounting and Auditing of Political Parties.
As desired by the ECI,
the ICAI keeping in view the recommendations made to the ECI had finalized and released
“Guidance Note on Accounting and Auditing of Political Parties”, covering
Uniform Accounting and Auditing Framework for the preparation and presentation
of financial statements by Political Parties, principles of recognition, measurement
and disclosure of items of income, expenses, assets and liabilities in the
financial statements of Political Parties, and uniform formats of financial
statements etc. This
endeavour of the ECI and ICAI will go a long way in establishing sound accounting
principles and provide guidance to the Political Parties, members and others
concerned.
Investor Awareness
Programs: The Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA), under the
aegis of Investor Education and Protection Fund (IEPF) of the Government of
India, has entrusted the Institute with the task to educate the present and
prospective investors of our nation about the intricacies of capital market.
The objective of the initiative is to create better awareness among common
people for investment in corporate sector towards creating a strong India Inc.
Since Feburary 2012, a total of 529 Investor Awareness programmes have been
organized by the Institute through its branches and resource persons.
Progress made towards
IFRS: The ICAI has been constantly formulating new Accounting Standards as
well as revising the existing Accounting Standards from time to time with the
objective to bring the Indian Accounting Standards in line with the
International Accounting Standards (IASs)/ International Financial Reporting
Standards (IFRSs), as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board
(IASB).
Considering the global
developments with regard to IFRS and to ensure smooth implementation of Ind AS
converged with IFRS, a committee was constituted to get the members and other
stakeholder ready for proper implementation of Ind ASs. The Institute is
working to support the members and other stakeholders in proper implementation
of these Standards by issuing Educational Material on Ind ASs. The Educational
Materials on Ind AS 1, Presentation of Financial Statements, Ind AS 2,
Inventories and Ind AS 37, Provisions, Contingent Liabilities and Contingent
Assets have already been issued. Adequate steps to enhance the knowledge of the
members and other stakeholders for proper implementation of IFRS converged
Indian Accounting Standards (Ind ASs) are being taken by conducting workshops,
seminars and IFRS Certificate Course. So far, around 4200 members have been
trained under this programme.
Certification of XBRL
Financial Statements by Chartered Accountants: Worldwide
XBRL has emerged as an important business reporting tool to reach out to the
various stakeholders. It makes the data uniformly accessible to them and
permits its utilization in accordance with their varying needs. In India,
the Ministry of Corporate Affairs has introduced this reporting tool by
requiring the companies to file their financial statements for the year ended
March 31, 2011 in XBRL mode and have also required, inter alia, the Chartered
Accountants to certify these XBRL mode financial statements. In order to
educate members on XBRL and providing hands-on training on the process, various
programmes have been conducted by ICAI on XBRL across the country. This
training will help members to understand XBRL, which is emerging as the most
popular reporting language across the world.
A separate website www.xbrl.org/indedicated
to the Extensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) India Jurisdiction to keep
members and other users aware about the Indian XBRL Jurisdiction and membership
details, has also been set up. Extensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL)
India has now been entrusted with the task of developing taxonomies for
Insurance, Power, Non Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) and Limited Liability
Partnership (LLPs).ICAI recently cleared the taxonomy for Commercial and Industrial(C&I)
companies. This taxonomy would be used by the Ministry of
Corporate Affairs for having the financial statements
from the companies. In addition to the in-gap elements, the taxonomy
has common practice and MCA specific elements.
(B) Initiative
for Members
Parliament
passed bill to move to new LLP model: CA Amendment Bill was passed by
both houses of the Parliament paving the way for Limited Liability
Partnerships (LLPs) and Multidisciplinary Partnerships (MDPs)subject to
notification of the relevant provisions, after the assent of the President of
India and issue of guidelines for MDPs by the Council. This would help the
professionals and thereby the country in achieving a leadership position in the
services sector. It was decided by the ICAI that the existing Accounting
Standards would apply to the LLPs and accordingly, sent its recommendation to
Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA).A detailed proposal with respect to
applicability of various Accounting Standards to (LLPs) was sought by the
Ministry from the ICAI.
E-learning
modules:
To help create awareness among the members about Auditing Standards and to
encourage their implementation at even at the most grass roots level of the
profession i.e. among the small and medium practitioners, the Institute had
launched e-learning on auditing standards. In its first phase the e-learning
covers 10 auditing standards, the work on remaining Standards is in full swing.
After the successful launch of first phase of e-learning on Auditing Standards,
the second phase of e-learning on these Standards was also launched. It
comprises of 9 Standards on Audit and Preface to the Standards on Quality
Control, Auditing, Review, Other Assurance and Related Services.
Capacity
building of Small and Medium Practitioners : Due to changes in the economic
environment which has thrown open
more challenges and opportunities
for professionals, it
is imperative to build
capacities of small
and medium firms
in order to enable
them to face
and take advantage
of this competitive environment.
Towards this end, the Institute organizes a series of workshops and conferences
to educate and create awareness among the members. These conferences also
address the apprehensions in their mind regarding capacity-building measures
like LLPs, networking, mergers and management
consultancy services in corporate form. The disadvantages and
challenges being faced by members while resorting to such consolidation
processes are also identified and the remedial measures suggested. In days to
come, many initiatives will be taken by the Institute to explore other areas of
capacity building like venture capital and tie-ups with banks for availability
of funds at cheaper rates etc.
Besides
the above initiatives, ICAI would continue to focus on the capacity building
through skill development initiatives. A website (www.icai.org.in) was created by the Institute to enable
SMPs to create their portals and upload the details of their firms on the
proposed website from their end and which provides them an opportunity to reach
out to the International practitioners. So far, 3949 CA
firms have created their websites through this initiative.
An
Accounting and Billing software was made available to all the Practitioners
& CA firms, free of cost for 2 financial years. This will manage all the
accounting and billing requirements of a CA Firm on Cash System of Accounting
and has the facility to generate bills, receipts, vouchers etc.
New
Online Portal on Health Insurance: An exclusive online portal, http://icai.newindia.co.in, has been made operational with regard
to the recently-launched health insurance scheme through the New India
Assurance Co. Ltd. for the members and students, where they can calculate and
pay premiums, and find other details about the scheme.
IT
initiatives:
For the profession to play a greater role in building the nation, the members
need to be trained with latest IT skills. As the profession is increasingly
growing global, ICAI is making efforts to equip practicing members and
chartered Accountancy firms with more IT tools that in turn will increase their
efficiency in the global work environment. Developing an IT infrastructure is
very high on the agenda of ICAI, and hence the Institute has established many
ITT Centres with state-of-the art infrastructure, hardware and software to
impart uniform and quality IT Training to its students and members.
The
Institute had taken up with Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for
recognizing the DISA (Diploma in Information System Audit) offered by ICAI as
equivalent to CISA (Certified Information System Auditor) of ISACA (Information
Systems Audit and Control Association). The RBI has advised that system
audits may be conducted by DISA (ICAI) qualified members in addition to CISA
qualified members from ISACA.
The
Ministry of Information Technology has a Computer Emergency Response Team
(CERT-In) which deals with cyber security in the country and recognizes DISA
(ICAI) qualified members for empanelment as IS auditors. CERT-In also has a
panel of IT Auditors & IS Auditors consisting of few CA Firms.
e-Learning
courses offered by ICAI:
- e-Learning
Course on IFRS
- e-Learning
Course on Service Tax
- e-Learning
Course on Transfer Pricing
- e-Learning
Course on IS Security, Cyber Threats & Review
- e-Learning
Course on Standards of Audit
ICAI
ERP Initiative: The Institute has identified IT
Enabled Services (ITES), particularly ERP, as a thrust area for the development
of the profession considering increasing demand for these value added services
within the country and abroad. The Institute had launched the ICAI ERP
Initiative. This is a part of the initiative of ICAI to provide practical
training programmes to the members. The Institute also introduced training
programmes on IT Enabled Services (ITES), the sunrise sector offering immense
development/ professional opportunities. As a part of this initiative, the
Institute started training programmes on the leading ERP software on Finance
& Control.
For training and development of the members in
the field of Information Technology, ICAI also organizes Post Qualification
Course on Information Systems Audit (ISA) and ERP Courses on SAP FA & MA,
Microsoft Dynamics NAV & ORACLE 12i.The Specialized course on Forensic
Accounting and Fraud Detection has also been conducted by the IT Committee to
equip the members with the latest technologies to unearth the Banking and other
Frauds.
The IT committee is also in process of Rolling out
Various Workshops and IT Awareness Programs across the country to develop
Technological Competencies amongst the Members of the Institute.
Project
Parivartan–IT Governance initiative: Project
Parivartan was conceived with an idea of taking ICAI to a qualitatively new way
of working considering the need to change the current operational processes of
the Institute to meet global benchmarks. Considerable progress has been made in
this area and ICAI will be setting up world class data centres at co-hosting
locations, connecting over 155+ offices on MPLS VPN and developing portfolio of
28 applications in phased manner. The application portfolio will cater to
information requirements of institute’s students, members, internal staff,
GOI and public at large and will serve as a single source of truth.
(C) Initiative for
Students
The ICAI has always been pro-active in designing
education and training schemes so as to produce competent professional
Chartered Accountants. The
Institute is aware of the demand of the modern dynamic society and therefore
the CA course is regularly updated and revised so that the students should acquaint themselves with the
latest in the fields of accounting, auditing, finance, IT and should remain
ahead of times. The Institute has initiated some more Student friendly
measures.
Direct
Entry Scheme:
Direct Entry Scheme is being introduced shortly to enable Graduates and Post
Graduates with prescribed percentage of marks and Intermediate level
examination Qualified students of The Institute of Company Secretaries of India
and the Institute of Cost Accountants of India to join the Intermediate
(Integrated Professional Competence) Course, without having to qualify the
Common Proficiency Test (CPT).
CPT
Course Passing Requirements: For passing the Common Proficiency Test
(CPT) a student shall be required to obtain at one sitting a minimum of 30%
marks in each section and a minimum of 50% marks in the aggregate of all the
sections, subject to the principle of negative marking.
Advanced
Information Technology Training: Students’ who are
pursing Chartered Accountancy Course during third year of practical
training shall be required to undergo an Advance Course on Information
Technology Training for such duration, as may be decided by the Council.
IPCC
e-Lectures:
e-Lectures for the IPCC Course are proposed to be made available this year.
Twin online facilities for the benefit of CPT
Students, particularly those in small towns where good level of coaching is not
available were introduced:
(a) Revamped bi-lingual (English & Hindi)
e-Learning Modules for CPT Course: These modules are now available at www.CAShiksha.com which can be accessed free of cost on
self-registration on the said site.
(b) Online Self-Assessment Quiz for the CPT Course:
This online facility is available to enable students make a self-assessment of
their preparation for the forthcoming, examination, Chapter-wise and
Subject-wise. This will assist CPT Students in their
preparation in a much faster
manner.This online facility is available on the Institute’s
website which enables the students to assess their preparations. Moreover,
every time a different set of questions would appear on the screen as and when
students’ take the tests.
(c) e-learning modules: Further, additional two e-Learning Modules on General Economics subject of CPT
have been hosted which shall prove to be of great help to the students in their
preparation.
(d) e-learning Module
on Financial Analysis using MS-Excel 2010 to enable
students makes better use of MS-Excel 2010 for their financial analysis and
reporting requirements.
Scholarship for Students:
In order to provide financial help to the poor, needy and meritorious articled
assistants, the institute has decided to award scholarship by the S.Vaidyanath
Aiyar Memorial Fund to 60 articled assistant of the value of Rs. 500/- p.m. for
one year-2012. The scholarship would enable them to pursue the chartered
accountancy course.
E-Diary in Articled Training:
It has been approved to introduce the E-diary concept on PAN India basis. To
start with, it will be implemented on recommendatory basis and subsequently it
will be made mandatory for all. This initiative of the Institute will
definitely bring in more transparency.
MoU between ICAI and various Universities –The ICAI facilitates acquisition of
additional qualifications.
For furtherance of Commerce and Management Education and to provide an
opportunity for those who have registered for the Chartered Accountancy course
to acquire Under Graduate Degree/Post Graduate Degree, ICAI has entered into
MOUs with different educational organizations:
·
Indira Gandhi Open University (IGNOU)
·
Netaji Subhash Open University
·
Bharathiar University
·
University
of Madras
The MoUs aim at providing an opportunity to the
Members/Students of ICAI to enhance their knowledge and skills.
Code of Conduct for CA
students: In order to govern the conduct of Chartered
Accountancy Students during the period of practical training and also that of
the students pursuing Professional Competence Course (PCC) / Integrated
Professional Competence Course (IPCC), prior to registration for practical
training as well as of the students who have completed practical training but
not yet passed Final examination, it has been decided to prescribe a code of
conduct for such students. The Code of Conduct aims at maintaining decency/
decorum while dealing with the Members and general public and also to maintain
the sanctity of the profession.
Student Counselling Programmes:
The Institute had decided to organize Students’ Counseling Programmes at all
the Regional Councils and Branches for CPT, IPCC/PCC and Final Students twice a
year after the declaration of result of each examination.This acts as a
motivating factor for the students and will keep their morale high. The half
day programmes would be specifically designed for CPT, IPCC/PCC and Final
students covering 2 Sessions – “Motivation” and “How to Face CA Examinations”.
These are being conducted by expert faculty of the specific subject(s). A
booklet titled – “How to Face CA Examinations” was also been brought out for
distribution at the above Programmes.
One year Industrial training in Government
Departments: Industrial
Training is a part of practical training prescribed under CA course which a
large number of articled assistants opt to do.
The Institute has decided to extend provision of Industrial Training
under Regulation 72(1) of Chartered Accountants Regulations, 1988 by covering the
offices of national regulators and Government Organizations i.e. C&AG,
Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Ministry of Law, Ministry of Commerce, Ministry
of Finance, Reserve Bank of India, SEBI, CBDT, CBEC, Income Tax Department and
Revenue Department for providing Industrial Training to the articled
assistants. The articled assistants will
have an option to register for one year Industrial Training under an eligible
Member of the Institute serving with such Departments. This will facilitate CA Students to gain
practical knowledge & exposure in the specific areas of accounts, law,
taxation and audit related functioning of the Government Departments.
GMCS of 15 days duration at 2 stages: As an integrated part of the Scheme of education and
training, the ICAI has been conducting GMCS Course of 15 days duration since
2002 so as to enhance the professional skills of a budding Chartered
Accountant. As a part of its initiative
to enhance the professional skills at an early stage in profession, the
Institute has proposed to organize GMCS of 15 days duration at 2 stages during
the course of articled training. The first course of GMCS shall have to be
undergone by a student during the first year of articled training and another
15 days programme shall have to be undergone during the last year of practical training. The main focus of such a course is to impart
the practical skills in an effective manner by providing training through Group
discussion, case study method, etc. It
is expected that by such a two-stage course, managerial skills of potential
Chartered Accountants shall get further enhanced. Pursuant to the
decision of the council, a thoroughly revised comprehensive material is under
preparation and shall be released soon.
CPT Online
Registrations: This facility enables the students to
register themselves 24*7 to CPT course using the online form. This also has the
provision to pay course fee online using credit/debit cards/net banking of
various banks. This has helped to bring the students closer to the doorsteps of
the ICAI, and other such forms would also be available online in due course.
Changed Eligibility
Criteria for CA Course: To mitigate the difficulties
faced by those students who have not passed (10+2) examinations but have passed
any other diploma course or have passed even 1st year of the 3-year graduation
course, it has been decided that they would be eligible for admission to the
CPT and would be able to pursue the CA Course. It has been decided to exempt
graduates/Post Graduates with specified percentage of marks from taking the CPT
to join the Integrated Professional Competence Course (IPCC) and commence
Articled Training immediately after registration for IPCC. Necessary notification in this regard is
likely to be published soon.
Holding of Mock Test: The
Institute with a view to encourage the students to evaluate their preparation
for the examination, had conducted Mock Test Papers in each subject of IPCC,
PCC and Final level in March and April 2012 .The test papers along with the
solutions were hosted on the website of the Institute so that the students who
could not appear in the mock tests could also benefit.
(D) International
Initiatives
The
biggest issue before the institute is ‘globalisation of Indian accountants’. India is
growing at a rapid pace. Indian companies are setting up offices abroad,
acquiring firms overseas and merging in order to grow bigger and go global. As
a part of International initiatives, ICAI would like to have strategic
collaborations with more international accounting bodies so that it can provide
a global outlook to CA members.ICAI
is a founder member of various International professional bodies and is playing
a prominent role through its nominees who have worked and are working on the
Governing Council as well as various Committees of those bodies.
ICAI is playing an increasingly proactive role at the
International front and has drawn up a strategy with the aim to export
professional services in a big way to enable Indian Professionals to take lead
in International Affairs and come at par with those from developed countries.
MoUs/MRAs
with various Accounting Bodies: The Institute has
signed MoUs/MRAs with various Accounting Bodies namely:
o
The Institute of Chartered Accountants
in England & Wales
o
The Institute of Chartered Accountants
of Australia
o
CPA Australia
o
CPA Ireland
o
Canadian Institute of Chartered
Accountants
o
Association of International Accountants
(AIA), UK
This step entails
coming together of the two Accounting bodies working in tandem with each other
to provide synergy. These agreements facilitate mobility of members across the
borders and further strengthen the ties between India and its counterpart in
other country.
Recently the ICAI
signed Statement of Bilateral Cooperation in the form of MOU with New Zealand
Institute of Chartered Accountants. Statement of Bilateral Cooperation to that
extent providing a path way and bridging mechanism for recognition of New
Zealand Institute’s members in India and ICAI members in New Zealand has been
provided for.The discussions were also held with Institute of Chartered
Accountants of England and Wales (ICAEW) for an implementation strategy for
enhancing the student base under the MOU signed by ICAI and ICAEW.
Representation of ICAI on International Accounting
Education Standards Board (IAESB) of International Federation of Accountants
(IFAC):
IAESB
has 167 members and associates from 127 countries across the world. The
President, ICAI is the member of IAESB for the period January, 2012- December,
2014. The IAESB takes various initiatives to improve the clarity of its
standards, ensures consistency with concepts of the revised framework document,
clarifying issues resulting from changes in the environment of accounting education
and the experience gained from implementation of the Standards by IFAC member
bodies.
Benefits to Overseas citizens of India: A group had been constituted by the Institute to
consider appropriate steps for identifying a qualification bridging mechanism
in line with the arrangements in place for MOU, MRAs with various International
accounting bodies and feasibility of considering provision to be prescribed for
licensing of Overseas Citizens of India and to work out the modalities therein.
The Group has completed its task and a report including Qualification Bridging Mechanism for
Licensing Overseas Citizenships of India registered under Section 7B(1)
Citizenship Act, 1955 has been placed before the Council for its consideration
and approval. The proposed scheme, if approved, will give an opportunity for
Overseas Citizen of India (OCIs) Chartered accountant professionals to practice
the accountancy profession in India subject to the conditions as laid down in
the said scheme of bridging qualification mechanism.
