No Amount Of Law Can Create Integrity

The implications of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which the US Congress put hurriedly in place earlier this year in response to a succession of corporate scandals, will travel far beyond the US borders. Gautam S Dalal, chairman and chief executive of KPMG in India, explains how. Excerpts from conversation with Subir Roy

Q. The US has passed a law to address the corporate governance gap. What should an Indian lawmaker do to address the huge gaps that exist here?

I wonder if there is a huge gap. In India we have always had the rules. The problem is the actual practice of application. We have this vast amount of information in annual reports on capacities, utilisation. Presented properly, it could be very informative. But in reality, it is something you put at the back of the annual report. Why don