BCAS President CA Anand Bathiya’s Message for the Month of October 2024
The third-most important challenge facing our profession: ‘Regulatory Considerations’
On 4th October 2024, our Society had the pleasure of hosting Dr. Ajay Prasad Bhushan Pandey, Chairman of the National Financial Reporting Authority (‘NFRA’), along with other NFRA officials for an interactive session on the evolving assurance landscape. The discussion was particularly timely, following the NFRA circular issued on 3rd October 2024, which provided interpretations of SA 600 regarding auditors’ responsibilities for group entities.
The Chairman compellingly articulated the imperative for India to establish a world-class audit framework in light of the anticipated growth of the Indian economy as well as the role of Chartered Accountants and Indian firms towards this national cause. This was followed by a panel discussion featuring two past presidents of the ICAI and two seasoned audit partners, along with the Chairman. The insightful dialogue provided numerous takeaways, highlighting an evident shift in the regulatory landscape impacting our profession. Notably, the BCAS Membership Survey also identified ‘Regulatory Considerations’ as the third-most significant challenge facing our profession, following the challenges of ‘Impact of Technology’ and ‘Attracting and Retaining Talent.’
A defining characteristic of a Professional is the capacity to deliver high-quality work,unsupervised, which may explain the historical basisfor ‘professions’ being initiated through ‘self-regulation’. However, with the passage of time and evolving expectations, ‘independent regulation’ is seenby many as a logical progression from ‘self-regulation’. The Indian auditing profession appears to have progressed from debating the need for independent regulation, to concentrating the debate on its effective implementation. It is towards this cause of effective implementation that a constructive framework of discussion, coupled with consideration of Indian context along with following due process of change management, is desirable. As integral components of the ecosystem, both professionals and regulators must collaborate effectively to achieve the shared goal of ensuring and enhancing the financial fabric of our economy.
It is not often that a profession undergoes such a fundamental transformation, but such a phenomenon would expectedly be followed by periods of disruption and altered survival landscape. Although this transformation is most apparent in the audit sector, the evolving regulatory dynamics and expectation gaps are also evident in other practice areas. The concerns around multiplicity of regulators, lack of concerted legal views on contentious matters, trigger-happy law-enforcement machinery and high monetary penalties, make foran onerous occupational hazard. In this backdrop, it is believed that the ICAI has on 18th October, 2024 issued a ‘standard operating procedure to be adopted by police and other law enforcing agencies for investigation, search, seizure, interrogation, detention and arrest of chartered accountants.’
While our exceptional technical expertise and comprehensive training background provide us with a significant advantage in addressing these challenges, aligning our abilities further with contemporary times and needs would clearly be beneficial.
As we spoke about ‘key challenges’ over the last few messages, our Society remains committed to concentrating its efforts on tackling these contemporary challenges, aiding our community in enhancing its relevance. As the saying goes, ‘God gives challenges to those capable of handling it’, and as Chartered Accountants we will adapt, engage and evolve to meet these few worthy challenges.
Meanwhile, the professional development juggernaut at BCAS continues to host contemporary learning events, promoting good policies through advocacy and working towards the interest of our community. Some notable developments include:
i. Representation on SA 600: The Accounting and Auditing Committee of BCAS provided comprehensive feedback to the NFRA regarding the proposed changes to SA 600. During a personal interaction with NFRA officials in Delhi, BCAS delegates had the opportunity to elaborate on the rationale behind some of their suggestions and the thought process underlying these recommendations. We extend our gratitude to the NFRA team for their patient reception and engaging discussion.
ii. IIM-Mumbai + BCAS Research kick-off: Extending on our collaboration with IIM-M, the first research project with IIM-M has been successfully green-flagged by BCAS. Led by the Finance, Corporate and Allied Laws Committee at BCAS, the six-month funded-research project will involve dedicated research effort on certain blue-sky concepts under Direct Tax, alongwith their adaptability to the Indian taxation ecosystem. Stay tuned for more updates on this project.
iii. International Tax Think-Tank initiative: Enhancing our efforts towards structured research in International Tax, the International Tax Committee of BCAS has commenced the International Tax Think-Tank initiative. Through this initiative, research fellows under the guidance of subject-matter experts will engage on assorted topics of research interest to churn meaningful research output with diverse applications. This initiative holds a lot of promise to transform our abilities at BCAS to conduct authentic research-backed thought-leadership.
iv. BCAS Nxt – A Formal Students’ Sub-Group: Chartered Accountancy students form an essential component of the BCAS ecosystem. Throughout the year, BCAS organizes numerous events designed to meet the learning, networking, and career guidance needs of these aspiring professionals. It is therefore fitting to formalize this initiative into a structured, student-led format. With the dedicated efforts of the Human Resources Development Committee at BCAS, we are pleased to introduce the ‘BCAS Nxt’ platform for CA students. I extend my best wishes to the newly appointed student leaders of BCAS Nxt as they assume this significant responsibility.
v. Bonhomie Events: As the compliance-intensive months of September to November conclude, a series of non-technical events are scheduled for our members in the upcoming months. The Seminar, Membership, and Public Relations Committee is organizing the inaugural ‘CAthon’ on December 1st, 2024 – a marathon effort in every respect. Additionally, BCAS Cricket 2025 will be held on January 5th, 2025, to foster camaraderie and encourage sportsmanship among us. Grab your place in the team soon.
vi. 58thMembers’Residential Refresher Course (‘RRC’): The flagship Members’ Residential Refresher Course in its 58th avataris scheduled to be held at the culturally rich city of Lucknow. With top-notch speakers and contemporary topical coverage, this edition highlights darshan at the Ram Mandir temple at Ayodhya! With registrations having opened from Dusshera, this limited-seats annual pilgrimage of knowledge is a must attend event.
So,while you consider registering yourself for the Members’ RRC and a visit to Ram Mandir – Ayodhya, may I take this opportunity to wish you and your loved ones a very Happy Diwali and best wishes for a healthy, safe and prosperous new year ahead.
