By P. N. Shah, H. N. Motiwalla, Chartered Accountants
ICAI & Its Members
1. Disciplinary
case :
ICAI v.
Shri B. R. Kurhade (C.A. Journal, June 2008, Page 2016)
In the above case, the Jt. Director of Industries, Mumbai,
filed a complaint against the member alleging that the member had certified
information of past consumption, production, etc. in respect of import
applications made by 12 SSI units located in Ahmednagar district. It was found,
on subsequent investigation, that these certificates given by the member were
wrong. It was also found that some of the SSI units were not working regularly
or had not maintained required consumption, etc. records or did not require or
could not use the raw material applied for in their manufacturing process.
The Council found the member guilty of professional
misconduct under clauses (7) and (8) of Part I of the Second Schedule of the
C.A. Act and recommended to the High Court to remove the name of the member for
2 years. The Bombay High Court accepted this finding, but reduced the punishment
for removal of name of the member to 3 months.
2. Capitalisation of exchange loss :
The Expert Advisory Committee (EAC) of ICAI has considered
the above issue on pages 2002–2004 of C.A. Journal of June, 2008.
(i) The facts in this case are as under :
The company entered into an agreement for foreign currency
loan in respect of its expansion projects. As on 31-3-2007, there was a
reduction in exchange rate of Euro. As a result of this the liability for the
foreign loan is reduced. The question for consideration was as to whether the
exchange rate variations on the foreign exchange currency loan taken for the
expansion project, during the period of construction, should be capitalised or
abated.
(ii) EAC has given the following opinion :
The foreign exchange loss on foreign currency loan can be
capitalised only to the extent mentioned in para 4(e) of AS-16 (Borrowing
Costs). Any excess exchange loss should be treated as revenue loss. The exchange
gain with respect to the qualifying asset under AS-16 can be adjusted against
the cost of the asset only to the extent mentioned in para 4(e) of AS-16. The
exchange gain in excess of this amount should be credited to Profit & Loss A/c.
3. Advertisement by practising CAs :
The Council of ICAI has framed guidelines allowing practising
CAs and their firms to advertise their services through a write-up issued,
circulated or published through print or electronic media. These guidelines have
been hosted on the website of the Institute. Brief outline of these guidelines
is as under.
(1) The member(s)/firm(s) should ensure that the contents of
the write-up are true to the best of their knowledge and belief and are in
conformity with these guidelines and be aware that the ICAI does not own any
responsibility whatsoever for such contents or claims by the writer member(s)/firm(s).
(2) The word ‘write-up’ is defined to mean the writing of
particulars according to the information given in the guidelines setting out
services rendered by the members or firms and any writing or display of the
particulars of the member(s) in practice or of firm(s) issued, circulated or
published by way of print or electronic media or otherwise including in
newspapers, journals, magazines and websites (in Push as well in Pull mode) in
accordance with the guidelines.
(3) The write-up may include only the following information :
(A)
For members
(i) Name . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Chartered
Accountant,
(ii) Membership No. with Institute,
(iii) Age,
(iv) Date of becoming ACA,
(v) Date of becoming FCA,
(vi) Date from which COP held,
(vii) Recognised qualifications,
(viii) Languages known,
(ix) Telephone/Mobile/Fax No.,
(x) Professional address,
(xi) Web,
(xii) E-Mail,
(xiii) CA logo,
(xiv) Passport size photograph,
(xv) Details of employees (Nos. —)
(a) Chartered Accountants,
(b) Other professionals,
(c) Articles/Audit assistants,
(d) Other employees —
(xvi) Names of the employees and their particulars on the
lines allowed for a member as stated above, and
(xvii) Services provided —
(a) ,
(b) ,
(c) [Note : Item (ii) is mandatory]
(B)
For firms
(i) Name of the firm . . . . chartered accountants,
(ii) Firm Registration No. with Institute,
(iii) Year of establishment,
(iv) Professional address(s),
(v) Working hours,
(vi) Tel. No.(s)/Mobile No./Fax No(s),
(vii) Web address,
(viii) E-Mail,
(ix) No. of partners,
(x) Name of the proprietor/partners and their particulars on the lines allowed for a member as stated above including passport-size photograph,
(xi) CA logo,
(xii) Details of employees (Nos. —)
(a) Chartered Accountants,
(b) Other professionals,
(c) Articles/Audit assistants,
(d) Other employees
(xiii) Names of the employees of the firm and their particulars on the lines allowed for a member as stated above, and
(xiv) Services provided:
(a)
(b)
(c)………… [Note: Item (ii) is mandatory]
(4) Other conditions relating to the write-up:
(i) It should not be false or misleading and bring the profession into disrepute.
(ii) It should not claim superiority over other member(s)/firm(s).
(iii) It should not be indecent, sensational or otherwise of such nature which may likely to bring the profession into disrepute.
(iv) It should not contain testimonials or endorsements concerning member(s).
(v) It should not contain any other representation(s) that may likely to cause a person to misunderstand and/or to be deceived.
(vi) It should not violate the provisions of the CA Act and Rules made thereunder and CA Regulations.
(vii) It should not include the names of the clients (both past and present).
(viii) It should not be of font size exceeding 14.
(ix) It should not contain any information other than stated in Para (3) hereinabove.
(x) It should not contain any information about achievements/ award or any other position held. A.
4. Prospects for members in industry :
ICAI had organised Campus Placement Programme for members during February-April, 2008 at 16 centres in India. Out of members who qualified in November, 2007 examination, 3781 candidates (preceding programme: 1823 candidates) participated in this programme. 243 Interview Boards representing 109 organisations interviewed the candidates at 16 centres. More than 1250 candidates were selected for jobs in various industries. Maximum salary offered to 4 candidates was Rs.16.17 lacs P.A. for international posting. For Indian posting maximum salary offered to 5 candidates was Rs.12 lacs P.A. The following are the figures for salary range. (Refer pages 2084-2086 of C.A. Journal for June, 2008).
5. Amendment to CA. Regulations 1988 :Notification dated 5-5-2008 giving draft of the amendments to C.A. Regulations has been published on pages 2069-2073 of CA. Journal, June, 2008. Broadly stated the draft regulations provide for the following:
(i) Amount payable for obtaining copies of list of members.
(ii) Revision in fees payable for restoration of membership, restoration of COP, filing complaints against members, etc.
(iii) Permitting members to enter into partnership or arrangement for sharing fees with members of (a) Institute of Company Secretaries of India, (b) Institute of Cost and Works Accountants of India, (c) Bar Council of India, (d) Indian Institute of Architects, (e) Institute of Actuaries of India, and (f) Engineer, Technician, MBA, etc. from recognised universities.
(iv) Functions of Executive Committee of ICAL
(v) Functions of Finance Committee of ICAL
6. ICAI News:
(Note: Page Nos. given below are from CA. Journal for June, 2008)
(i) Unstructured CPE Learning Activities:
In May, 2008, issue of BCA Journal (Page 224) details about CPE credit requirement for ICAI members are given. The indicative list of unstructured CPE activities is also given. Now, details of unstructured CPE Learning Activities have been published on pages 2005-2006 of C.A. Journal of June, 2008.
(ii) Observations during conduct of Peer Review:
Observations of reviewers during conduct of Peer Review on Compliance with AAS-6, AAS-7, AAS-8, AAS-ll and AAS-14 to improve audit quality have been published (Page 2058).
(iii) Audit and Assurance Standard Board (AAS Board) Recent developments relating to AAS are explained by ICAI at pages 2060-2065.
(iv) ICAI Publications:
The following publications are released by ICAI :
(a) What is an Audit – Understanding an Audit of Financial Statements.
(b) Practitioners’ Guide to Audit of Small Industries.
(c) Background Material on Auditing and Assurance Standards
(d) Implementation Guide to SQC-1
(For details refer to page 2066 and 2076)
(v) ICAI Vision – 2021 :
ICAI has appointed a Special Purpose Committee for bringing out a vision – 2021 document. The questionnaires for members in practice and in industry are published on pages 2094-2017. Members may send their responses to ICAL
(vi) Accounting Standards for Local Bodies (ASLB) :
The following exposure drafts are issued for comments by members:
(a) Revenue from Exchange Transactions (Pages 2108-2120)
(b) Borrowing Costs (Pages 2121-2127)
(vii) Auditing Standards (Revised Standard (SA) 600) :
Exposure draft of Revised Standard on Special Considerations – Audits of Group Financial Statements (including the work of component auditors) and Explanatory Memorandum to the above standard has been issued by AASB (pages 2128-2155).
(viii) Revival of Membership of CA :
With a view to encourage those CAs who have ceased to be members of the Institute for some reason or the other, a new scheme has been formulated by ICAL They will be able to revive their membership on payment of specified fees. This scheme is hosted on the Institute’s website (Page 1986).
(ix) PE-II Examination to continue till May, 2009 :
ICAI has decided to continue PE-II examination till May, 2009. Therefore, students who have not been able to pass in May, 2008 PE-II examination will get two more attempts in November, 2008 and May, 2009. Thereafter, they will have to shift to new PCC examination (Page 1987).
(x) New Chapter in New York:
ICAI has set up a new Chapter in New York. This is the 20th Chapter of the Institute outside India (Page 1989)
