Finally government tries to come out of Sahara Blues. Government earlier was in pressure to put corporate governance in place among private companies and tried well. Thereafter, industry lobby (read as vested interests among “promoters” and “professionals”) started pleaded mercy for all “otherwise honest players”.
Government initiated it journey with exemption notifications and now bring this amendment rules.
The Companies (Audit and Auditors) Second Amendment Rules, 2017 is interesting in more than one way. Statistically, this exemption will benefit only selected big players among private companies in India and their auditors.
Section 139(2) of the Companies Act, 2013 reads, “No listed company or a company belonging to such class or classes of companies as may be prescribed, shall appoint or re-appoint—
(a) an individual as auditor for more than one term of five consecutive years; and
(b) an audit firm as auditor for more than two terms of five consecutive years.”
Rule 5 of the Companies (Audit and Auditors) Rules 2014 before present amendments reads, “for the purposes of sub-section (2) of section 139, the class of companies shall mean the following classes of companies excluding one person companies and small companies:-
(a) all unlisted public companies having paid up share capital of rupees ten crore or more;
(b) all private limited companies having paid up share capital of rupees twenty crore or more;
(c) all companies having paid up share capital of below threshold limit mentioned in (a) and (b) above, but having public borrowings from financial institutions, banks or public deposits of rupees fifty crores or more.”
Now, the Companies (Audit and Auditors) Second Amendment Rules, 2017, amend clause (b) of rule 5. The amendment rules reads, “in the Companies (Audit and Auditors) Rules, 2014, in rule 5, in clause (b), for the word “twenty”, the word “fifty” shall be substituted.
This amendment rules increase threshold limit for rotation of auditors for private companies by a good 150%.
As number of companies and auditors is not much, it may not affect stakeholders significantly but our commitment towards corporate governance.
Posted in Chapter X - CA2013, Companies Act 2013, CorpGov, Governance and Responsibility
Tagged Audit Committee, Auditor, Auditor Rotation, Companies Act 2013, Corporate Law, India, Ministry of corporate affairs, The Companies (Audit and Auditors) Rules 2014, the Companies (Audit and Auditors) Second Amendment Rules 2017
On 18th May 2016 Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India issued revised guidelines on corporate governance for insurance companies. In last post we discussed these guidelines in brief. In this post, we will briefly discuss, Board Committees for insurance companies as mentioned in these guidelines.
Posted in CorpGov, Governance and Responsibility
Tagged Audit Committee, Board Committee, Corporate Social Responsibility Committee, Insurance Company, Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority, Investment Committee, Nomination and Remuneration Committee, Policyholder Protection Committee, Risk Management Committee, With Profit Committee
We have discussed provisions under the Companies Act 2013 related to audit report, duties, power and penalties earlier here.
Auditor’s Report:
The auditor shall make a report to the members of the company on accounts examined by him on every financial statements and report financial statement give a true and fair view of the state of the company’s affairs at the end of its financial year and profit or loss and cash flow for the year and such other matters. [Section 143(2)]
According to Section 147(2) of the Companies Act 2013 discussed earlier here, if an auditor of a company contravenes any of the provisions of section 139, section 143, section 144 or section 145, the auditor shall be punishable with fine which shall not be less than twenty-five thousand rupees but which may extend to five lakh rupees. If an auditor has contravened such provisions knowingly or willfully with the intention to deceive the company or its shareholders or creditors or tax authorities, he shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to one year and with fine which shall not be less than one lakh rupees but which may extend to twenty-five lakh rupees.
In this post we will discuss resignation and removal of auditor of a company.
REMOVAL:
The auditor may be removed from his office before expiry of his term only by special resolution after approval from central government. The auditor concern shall be given opportunity of being heard. [Section 140(1) of the Companies Act 2013 discussed earlier here]
The application to the Central Government for removal of auditor shall be made in Form ADT – 2 and shall be accompanied with fees as provided for this purpose under the Companies (Registration Offices and Fees) Rules, 2014. [Rule 7(1) of the Companies (Audit and Auditors) Rules 2014]
Sub – section (2) of this section 139 of the Companies Act, 2013 discussed earlier here expressly say that provide that no listed company or some other companies as notified shall appoint or re – appoint (i) an individual for more than one term of five consecutive years, or (ii) an audit firm for more than two terms of five consecutive years. Any audit firm shall not be appointed as auditor which has any common partner or partners with the firm whose tenure has expired in the company immediately preceding financial year.
For the purposes of sub-section (2) of section 139, the class of companies shall mean the following classes of companies excluding one person companies and small companies:-
True and fair Audits are core concern for corporate world and its regulators. The manner of appointment of auditors may affect independence of audit. Section 139 of the Companies Act 2013 discussed earlier here, discuss appointment of auditor in detail.
The Companies (Audit and Auditors) Rules 2014 further prescribes tasteless syrup with bitter pills recommended under Chapter X of the Companies Act 2013.
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