Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Friday, Sep 06, 2002
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Friday, Sep 06, 2002 |
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Corporate
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Accountancy Multi-disciplinary practices not to hit Indian CAs' ambitions in UK K.R. Srivats
NEW DELHI, Sept. 5 INDIAN chartered accountants' attempts to gain practising rights in the UK will not be adversely impacted by the likely trend of allowing multi-disciplinary practices by professional firms in that country, according to Mr Peter Wyman, President, the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW). "We are moving towards a scenario where the UK would allow professional firms to adopt multi-disciplinary practices. A professional firm in the UK will then be in a position to provide both auditing and legal services. I believe that such a development would not put at risk the attempts of Indian chartered accountants in gaining practising rights in the UK," Mr Wyman told Business Line. A proposal of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) for granting practising rights in the UK to Indian Chartered Accountants has been pending before the UK Government's Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) for more than a year. As per the current dispensation in the UK, foreign firms and individuals cannot undertake work in the areas of auditing, insolvency and financial services without an explicit nod from the DTI. Australia is the only country outside the European Union (EU) to have received a DTI nod permitting its chartered accountants to practise in the areas of auditing, insolvency and financial services in the UK. "The fact that it is more than a year since ICAI made its proposal should not be cause for worry. Australia took 10 years to get DTI's approval. Though both the cases are not comparables, I am only saying this to emphasise that ICAI is on the right track and that ICAEW will support ICAI's case to the DTI," Mr Wyman said. ICAEW has about 1,20,000 professionals registered as members of the Institute. The ICAEW President also said "there is some more way to go" before both the institutes could recognise each other's qualifications. On the development of international accounting standards, Mr Wyman said unless international accounting standards were developed with a substance over form concept and on principles rather than rules-based approach, there must be a significant risk that they would not be adopted in full in Europe. "I believe the US, despite the shocks it has endured in the wake of recent corporate and accounting scandals, is not convinced that any significant change from its present approach is required. This stand-off represents a real and worrying threat to securing the dream that so many of us have of establishing a common financial language around the world through the development of International Accounting Standards," Mr Wyman said.
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